The night the Empire's last Doomsday Scenario came to an end.
『‘Hellgate Doomsday Scenario’ has been completed.』
『‘Imperial Schism Doomsday Scenario’ has been completed.』
『All ‘Imperial Regional Scenarios’ have been completed.』
As though it had been waiting for this exact moment, the system began firing off alerts one after another.
『Additional System Levels have been unlocked.
Available System Level: Level 3』
『Current System Level: Level 2
Editing Points required to advance: 150,000』
“Guess finishing all the scenarios unlocked it. Serry, last time you just raised my level automatically. Why's it different now?”
『Temporary measures were implemented at that time.
Therefore, the system was forcibly adjusted to the required System Level.』
“So that's what happened. Shame. What was the unlock condition this time?”
『Completion of the Doomsday Scenarios was the unlock condition.』
“The Regional Scenarios didn't matter?”
『Correct.』
Ex had a rough idea of what those Regional Scenarios represented.
There would be no more Doomsday Scenarios taking place in the Empire.
At the very least, it meant the Empire had finally become an ordinary part of the world.
‘Not that ordinary means safe…’
The messages kept coming.
『Rewards will be distributed for scenario completion.』
『New Talents
Intermediate Swordsmanship(D) : Agility + 0.5, Swordsmanship Growth + 25%
Second-Rate Cultivation Method(D) : Stamina + 0.5, Cultivation Method Growth + 25%
Mana Control(D) : Magic Power + 0.5, Magic Power Growth + 25%
Divine Embodiment(D) : Divinity + 0.5, Divinity Growth + 25%』
『Upgraded Talents
Novice Swordsmanship(E) -] Intermediate Swordsmanship(D)
Basic Cultivation Method(F) -] Second-Rate Cultivation Method(D)
Mana Sensitivity(F) -] Mana Control(D)
Divine Power Manifestation(F) -] Divine Embodiment(D)』
His basic talents had improved dramatically across the board.
Maybe because he'd completed three scenarios at once, the rewards were surprisingly generous.
‘And now I can finally use everything related to demons…’
The seals on his demon-related abilities had finally been lifted as well.
That meant he could finally use his demonic talents.
Naturally, there was also a change to his titles.
『New Title
Hero(SSS) : You have been chosen as the Hero.』
“…That's it? You're sure part of the reward isn't missing?”
『No error occurred during the granting of this title.』
That really was it.
Serry had even delivered the finishing blow by confirming it for him.
Ex looked around for anything else, but there was nothing.
He had become the Hero.
That was apparently the entire effect of the title.
Ex dragged a hand down his face in despair.
“I was expecting so much…!”
He'd had plenty of expectations for what becoming the Hero would actually do.
Maybe it would grant him some absurd, transcendent growth potential.
Maybe his stats would skyrocket.
Hell, maybe he'd be able to perform miracles granted by the Goddess.
Nothing.
There was none of that.
He had been chosen as the Hero.
End of story.
“That's just cruel… You could've at least given me some Charm or something…”
Ex let out one long, heavy sigh after another.
‘Now that I think about it, Leon didn't suddenly get stronger after becoming the Hero either. He was already freakishly strong to begin with.’
There were probably things he could only do now because he was the Hero, but with no obvious change he could feel right away, he couldn't help being disappointed.
“Wait, you gave me Editing Points every time I got a title before. Why don't I get any this time? Can't you throw me, I don't know, fifty thousand points?”
『This title is a special unique title.
Therefore, no separate reward will be granted.』
Serry rejected him without the slightest mercy.
It was yet another reminder that the system had never been on Ex's side in the first place.
At least there was one piece of good news.
His final penalty title, ‘Potion Addict(F),’ had disappeared.
‘Fine. Whatever. Nothing I can do about it. Let's check my stats.’
With his titles and talents changing, his Base Stats had changed as well.
『Base Stats
Stamina : 4.5 [Increased by 0.5]
Intelligence : 3.0
Agility : 4.5 [Increased by 0.8]
Magic Power : 3.0 [Increased by 0.5]
Demonic Power : 3.0 [Increased by 1.0]
Divinity : 2.5 [Increased by 0.5]
Luck : 0.0 [Fixed State]
Charm : 2.0』
His stats had risen across the board thanks to his new talents.
He was finally starting to enter the ranks of true superhumans.
Maybe that was exactly why further growth had become painfully slow.
‘Seems like 4.0 is where it really starts getting difficult…’
Surprisingly, his Demonic Power had risen by an entire point.
Maybe it was because that power had been sealed for so long before finally being released.
‘I can build Divinity by praying, but how am I supposed to increase Demonic Power?’
Unfortunately, there obviously wasn't anyone around who could teach him how to cultivate or control the power of a demon.
Considering the original owner of this body had been Berith, maybe he was supposed to have abilities related to lies and deception.
Snap-!
“…Nothing happened.”
He snapped his fingers the way Berith used to.
Absolutely nothing happened.
Now he just felt embarrassed.
‘Showing illusions like during the trial, slipping outside someone's awareness, hiding myself like I'm invisible…’
Berith's abilities had all revolved around the broader concept of ‘deception.’
No matter how Ex looked at it, figuring them out was going to require a tremendous amount of research.
Then there was the system's final message.
The contents made Ex doubt his own eyes.
『Changes resulting from the completion of the Regional Scenarios will now be applied.』
『The Imperial Region has been designated a Scenario Completion Zone.
1. All ‘Observer Viewpoints’ within the Imperial Region will be forcibly removed.
2. All ‘System Interference’ within the Imperial Region is permanently prohibited.
However, the above restrictions do not apply to ‘Main Stages.’』
『‘Influence Calculation’ for the Imperial Region will now begin.』
『The results can be viewed at System Level 3.』
‘Scenario Completion Zone…? Influence Calculation…?’
Not a single part of that could be brushed aside.
Every Observer Viewpoint in the Empire had been removed.
That was extremely good news for Ex. Elysia had possessed an overwhelming number of them compared to anyone else.
The prohibition against System Interference, however, was bad.
If he understood the explanation correctly, it meant he could no longer affect the region through ‘Setting Edit.’
That was a major loss for Ex.
“When a Regional Scenario is completed, does that region become a place the system can't influence anymore?”
『That is correct for all areas except Main Stages.』
And apparently ‘Main Stages’ were exempt.
In other words, those places would continue operating under the same rules as before.
“Serry, when you say Main Stage, Elyon Academy as a whole counts, right?”
『Checking ‘Elyon Academy’…
The specified region is classified as part of a Main Stage.』
“If Darius enters a Main Stage again, can an Observer Viewpoint be attached to him there?”
『Impossible.
That individual belongs to a region designated as a Scenario Completion Zone.
This information can be found under the newly added entry in Character Information.』
Ex immediately understood what Serry meant.
『Character Information
「Basic Information
Name : Darius de Dritania
Race : Human
Region : Dritania Empire
Special Traits: -」…』
A new attribute called ‘Region’ had been added to the Basic Information section of Character Information.
So if someone's assigned region was a Scenario Completion Zone, they wouldn't be affected.
Ex spent a while checking the information of everyone whose name he knew, searching for someone who didn't belong to the Empire.
Surprisingly, he found one almost immediately.
『Character Information
「Basic Information
Name : Leon Brave
Race : Human
Region : Unaffiliated
Special Traits : -」…』
‘So everyone in the Hero Party is unaffiliated.’
The same applied to professors and students at the academy who hadn't originally come from the Empire.
That meant Ex would have to be careful inside the academy from now on.
“Are there any confirmed Main Stages besides the academy?”
『Unable to answer.』
“Yeah. Figured.”
Then there was the final unfamiliar term.
‘Influence Calculation.’
The fact that it required System Level 3 strongly suggested it was tied to some new function.
『Current Editing Points : 118,400』
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough Editing Points to purchase Level 3 immediately.
“Influence…? What exactly is Influence?”
『Unable to answer.』
Ex's questions only continued to pile up.
* * *
Several days after Ex began staying at the Imperial Palace, Sunday arrived.
During those few days, he'd been subjected to just about every ridiculous experiment imaginable.
Bzzzzzt-
“How are you reacting to divine power?!”
“…It's bright.”
An imperial cleric had come in and started shining divine power directly into his face.
Yes, Ex was a demon, but there was no way divine power would purify him.
He was the Hero, after all.
Woof! Woof!
“What thoughts do you experience as a demon when looking at this creature?!”
“…It's cute.”
They brought livestock and pets into the room and demanded his impressions.
Yes, Ex was a demon, but there was no reason seeing an animal would fill him with malicious urges.
He was the Hero, after all.
Splash, splash-
“What goes through your mind when you look at this blood?!”
“…It smells.”
They had somehow obtained a large quantity of blood and abruptly presented it to him for inspection.
Yes, Ex was a demon, but there was no reason looking at blood would suddenly make him think anything disturbing.
He was the Hero, after all.
Eventually, he'd had enough.
“Would you please just stop already-!!!”
“The Hero got angry! It must be because he's a demon!”
“Even a Hero becomes emotionally unstable if he's also a demon. Noted…”
“So even a Hero can quickly succumb to rage if he's a demon…!”
Then an imperial mage standing in the back timidly raised his hand.
“We still haven't conducted the elemental magic response test…”
“Demons feel pain when you hit them with magic too!!”
“Hmm. It would've been a valuable opportunity to gather results…”
“Could you please show some respect for my human rights…!!”
There was, unfortunately, a reason for all this.
None of them had ever seen a descended demon willing to cooperate before.
To people consumed by scholarly curiosity, Ex was irresistible prey.
To make matters worse, he wasn't just a demon.
He was also the Hero.
There might never be another experimental subject like him.
Ex found the entire situation deplorable.
‘Who the hell leaked the rumor…?!’
Emperor Drakan had ordered everyone to keep the information contained, but controlling people's mouths was easier said than done.
Since Ex had been quietly living in what was technically a prison reserved for members of the Imperial Family, whispers had begun spreading that Hero Ex was actually a demon.
He'd been minding his own business as usual when a bunch of bespectacled lunatics suddenly barged in and started demanding to know if he was really a demon.
Worse, they'd caught him at the exact moment he was testing his abilities through Demonization.
It was one of those moments that truly drove home what having 0.0 Luck meant.
When Emperor Drakan found out what had happened, he'd laughed heartily.
“What can you do? Cooperate with them for the sake of advancing the Imperial Family's intelligence-gathering capabilities. In exchange, I'll tell them to ease up on the assassination attempts.”
Thanks to that, the assassins, whose number had somehow risen to three, quietly disappeared.
In exchange, Ex became the experimental subject of people overflowing with academic curiosity.
Being experimented on by monsters who had dedicated their entire lives to research was astonishingly effective at wearing down a person's sanity.
‘I want to go back to the academy.’
He'd actually started missing the academy's hellish training.
Unfortunately, Elyon Academy was currently closed for an extended period because of the massive demon attack.
Thankfully, there had been very few student casualties.
Some had been injured, but no students had died.
‘The soldiers and civilians took a lot more damage, though…’
The unexpected Hellgate Incident.
The attack on the grand auditorium.
No one had been prepared for either.
Casualties had been unavoidable.
The thought left an unpleasant, bitter taste in his mouth.
The Imperial Family had moved quickly, directing the public's eyes and ears toward praise for Leon, proclaiming that he had stopped the Hellgate Incident.
Only a tiny number of people knew the truth about the Demon King's resurrection and the Goddess's fall.
Thanks to that, turmoil within the Empire had remained limited.
In particular, the rumors surrounding Ex had died down completely.
They'd been replaced by a different rumor instead.
‘The Hero who submitted to the Imperial Family.’
Apparently, the fact that Ex had regularly been seen around the academy with Darius and Beatrice had been distorted beyond recognition.
Of course, Ex couldn't have cared less about rumors like that.
Bang-!
“Sir Ex!”
Just as he was wallowing in self-pity, someone flung the door open and appeared.
Golden hair flowed around her like shimmering waves, framing a pair of proud, radiant golden eyes.
But instead of her usual dignified, authoritative expression, the golden girl wore a bold, mischievous, brilliantly cheerful smile.
The real Imperial Princess, ‘Beatrice de Dritania,’ had returned.
“Lady Beatrice, are you back in your original body?”
“Yes! I'm back! Yaaay-!!”
Then, out of nowhere, she leaned close to his ear and whispered.
“You actually believed that? This great one would never retreat so easily, you foolish humans. I am Andras.”
“…”
Bzzzzzt-
Ex immediately blasted her face with divine power.
“Eek-! It's too bright!”
“What happened to Andras, Lady Beatrice?”
“It didn't work. And I thought that was some of my best acting.”
“If Andras saw that performance, she'd probably complain that you made her sound weird.”
“She already is. She's yelling about it right now.”
“…What?”
Beatrice held up her right hand, showing him the golden ring on her ring finger.
It was the Soul Trap Ring Ex had been wearing.
He made a deliberate effort not to think about why she'd chosen to wear it on that particular finger.
“…Don't tell me Andras is inside there.”
“Yes! We analyzed the ring's function and turned it against her! I was able to do it because I'd already opened a few holes in the barrier while I was trapped inside.”
“A demon might come bursting out through those holes…”
“It's fine. We sealed it again with both magical and sacred arts barriers. Unless the ring itself is destroyed, Andras will have to stay trapped in there forever. Don't you think that's a fitting end for a demon?”
Beatrice answered with the brightest, most innocent smile imaginable.
Ex, on the other hand, felt his vision go dark.
“I don't mean to criticize your methods, Lady Beatrice, but… why would you do something like that?”
“She shoved me into that ring and toyed with me for five years, so now I'm going to do the same thing to her.”
“…”
A chill ran down Ex's spine.
He chose silence.
Beatrice smiled for another moment before reaching out and running her fingers through Ex's black hair with open curiosity.
“Come to think of it, your hair changed back again, didn't it? And since your eyes look normal, you're human right now, correct? Other than your eyes, it's really hard to tell your demon form apart from your normal appearance, Sir Ex.”
“Yes, I'm using Humanization right now. Ever since last time, my hair stays black whether I'm human or a demon. I still have no idea why the color keeps changing whenever it feels like it.”
“Hair color usually changes in response to the body's mana or internal energies, doesn't it? Maybe it's black now because your body has become closer to a demon's?”
That actually sounded plausible.
Divine power, for instance, was normally close to white.
Yet the internal energy and divine power used by Darius and Beatrice were golden.
Their hair and eyes were golden as well.
“Oh, right. My divine power turned golden at some point too.”
Ex's divine power had originally been white.
But perhaps because he'd spent so much time resonating with Beatrice, it had eventually become golden.
‘That's probably a good thing… right?’
“Wow! I dyed Sir Ex gold!”
Beatrice seemed delighted by it, so it probably wasn't anything bad.
And it was convenient when he used the Dragon Sword, since the color made the different powers easier to distinguish.
That reminded Ex of something he'd been wondering about.
“By the way, how has His Highness been lately? I haven't seen him even once.”
“That's actually why I came to get you. Starting now, you need to prepare yourself for an audience with His Majesty.”
“An audience? Out of nowhere?”
“There are still all kinds of unresolved issues concerning what to do with you. His Majesty decided today that, and I quote, ‘It's annoying,’ so he's going to settle everything at once. That's good news, isn't it?”
‘Because it's annoying…’
That one sentence told him everything he needed to know about the Emperor.
“Now hurry and get ready! He's already waiting.”
Almost immediately, attendants flooded into the room.
They forcibly straightened Ex's clothes, fixed his appearance, and planted him beside Beatrice.
Then he followed her toward the audience chamber.
“It's been a while.”
As they walked through the corridor, Darius joined them.
One glance at his face revealed dark circles deep enough to be alarming.
Ex could tell exactly what he'd been doing until a moment ago.
After giving him a properly respectful greeting, Ex spoke.
“Your Highness, you look exhausted.”
“Ever since His Majesty returned to the throne… I've been busy.”
That one sentence was enough.
Ex recalled the impression Emperor Drakan had left on him.
A carefree personality that acted before worrying about consequences.
A warrior's face that looked far more suited to wielding a sword than a quill.
The kind of boss who charged ahead first and decided everyone else could deal with the aftermath.
Naturally, all the cleanup work ended up on whoever was competent enough to handle it.
“…My condolences.”
“Knowing you're resting while I'm drowning in work makes it even worse.”
“You were the one who told me I had to rest no matter what…”
“That was then. This is now.”
Despite how he looked, Darius was now officially the Crown Prince.
He was in the process of firmly establishing his foundation as the next Emperor.
Everything he was doing now was effectively part of his future duties as Emperor.
What else could he do?
Beatrice, despite being an Imperial Princess, had absolutely no interest in political power.
Ex had even heard that whenever someone tried assigning her administrative work, she ran away.
Which meant Darius had no choice but to shoulder everything himself.
‘Lady Beatrice definitely takes after the Emperor.’
Before long, the three of them arrived at the doors of the audience chamber.
Ex wondered whether even the Hero was really allowed to enter alongside an Imperial Prince and Imperial Princess.
Neither of them seemed remotely concerned.
The doors opened, and the two of them practically dragged Ex inside with them.
For some reason, it felt less like entering an audience chamber and more like being hauled in under arrest.
“Ah. There you are.”
Far ahead, Emperor Drakan sat upon the throne.
He looked more like a warrior than a man of supreme political authority.
Yet the sheer majesty radiating from him was unmistakable.
‘So that's where the Purification Relic ended up.’
The Purification Relic, now broken into two pieces, hung at Drakan's waist.
It looked like he was using it to purge the remnants of the curse.
Considering his complexion had noticeably improved, it seemed to be working.
‘Guess asking for it back isn't really an option.’
Ex had originally intended to secretly return it once he visited the Theocracy, but the thing was already shattered.
At this point, leaving it in the Emperor's hands was probably for the best.
Ex bowed deeply, intending to show the greatest respect possible.
“Before the Sun of the Empire and sovereign of all its people…”
“That's enough. Let's skip all that. It's annoying.”
Ex had been about to kneel and deliver the formal greeting exactly as the attendants had taught him, but Drakan waved a hand and cut him off.
The officials watching from the sides looked disappointed, but when the Emperor himself said to skip it, no one was going to argue.
Drakan leaned forward and got straight to the point.
“First, I've silenced all the noise surrounding your current circumstances. The Goddess Deuslute descended personally and chose you as the Hero. No one's going to oppose that now, whether you're human or not. And if anyone does, I'll have them punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
“I am deeply grateful for Your Majesty's grace.”
“Next comes the matter of recognizing your accomplishments. There's apparently quite a lot written down here, but… reading all this sounds annoying. Let's skip straight to your reward.”
Drakan casually lowered the scroll he'd been holding.
If fully unfurled, it looked like it would stretch several yards.
Reading everything written there aloud probably would have taken hours.
And so Drakan simply summarized the rewards himself.
“First…”
There was one thing Ex had completely failed to anticipate.
At most, he'd expected to be granted the title of Baron or perhaps receive a formal knighthood.
Anything beyond that would be difficult for Ex himself to handle and politically troublesome besides.
He'd already discussed something similar with Beatrice, so it was only natural that his expectations had settled somewhere around that level.
And beyond everything else, Ex's race was, technically speaking, demon.
If the Imperial Family lavished excessive rewards upon a demon, there was a real chance they could provoke fierce opposition from the followers of Deuslute.
Granted, the fact that Ex was a demon had only circulated inside the Imperial Palace for now, so it wasn't an immediate problem.
But it could become extremely difficult to manage later.
That was about the limit of Ex's political reasoning.
And all of it had been based on what ‘Darius’ would consider reasonable.
Not once had Ex ever tried looking at the matter from ‘Emperor Drakan's’ perspective.
That was exactly why what came next demolished every expectation he'd had.
“How would you feel about becoming a member of the Imperial Family?”
Faced with such an absurd proposal, there was only one possible response.
“…Excuse me?”
–TL Notes–
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