Chapter 4 – Conditions for Defeating the Demon King
Chapter 4 – Conditions for Defeating the Demon King
When all the equipment in my stronghold was in place, I found myself able to fight even high-level monsters alone.
Fighting every day, and another full year passing, might also have been a factor. Honestly, at this stage, I enjoyed getting stronger so much that my original goal of not dying in events had gone somewhere. In fact, I knew I wouldn’t die from the moment I started earning money to gather materials. But the means became the end, and I relentlessly fought familiar creatures with my sword and magic.
Eventually, I started developing items using the materials I acquired. By this point, I had matured enough, and my parents acknowledged my abilities. I even visited towns other than my hometown, taking several days to do so. I gathered information there, but the protagonists hadn’t reached the stage where they would be active yet, and the game scenario hadn’t started. So, thinking I should get even stronger before then, I continued to hunt monsters.
At this level, I thought I could even take on the Five Great Demons, and even the Demon King, but there was a wall.
“Hmm, the War with the Demon Lord is the problem, isn’t it?”
I stopped my work in the cave and began to think.
The Executive Class Five Great Demons are not yet visible. Moreover, in the game, you cannot invade the Demon Race’s territory without triggering specific events. So, even if I could win, I can’t fight them right now. More importantly, for a certain reason, it would be problematic for me to defeat them alone.
Regarding the Demon King, who is the final boss, to defeat him, one must belong to a certain bloodline. This is the Sage, who is said to have sealed the Demon King in the past. The five protagonists have no direct connection, but they all share the commonality of being descendants of a Sage.
The Demon King possesses a barrier that defends against all attacks, but only those who inherit the Sage’s Blood can destroy it. The condition to break the barrier is for the protagonist, who is of the bloodline, to reclaim the Sage’s Power from the Five Great Demons who are misusing it. This fact is revealed late in the game, but without that power, the Demon King cannot be defeated.
Ruon, of course, does not possess such a bloodline and cannot defeat the Demon King. If he defeats even one of the Five Great Demons on his own, it will lead directly to the Continent Annihilation Ending. Therefore, the Demon King’s subjugation must be done by one of the protagonists.
“Accompanying the protagonists and acting with them is one option, but… no, that also has problems, doesn’t it?”
The problem is that I have no idea which protagonist will take on that role. It’s also unclear if things will proceed according to the scenario in the first place, but even if they do, I can’t look after five humans acting separately at the same time. Should I force someone to fight? No, even if I did that, it would also be problematic if another protagonist defeated another of the Five Great Demons.
In the game, there are patterns where a single protagonist defeats the Five Great Demons, and patterns where the five each defeat one. However, I don’t want the latter scenario to occur. That’s because the Demon King becomes stronger, and furthermore, the Demon King unleashes mighty magic upon the continent, destroying many capital cities and towns. The continent is already plagued by war due to the Demon Race’s invasion. To add to that… Knowing the extent of the destruction in the game, I don’t want to do that.
I briefly considered the option of showing my strength and leading all the protagonists, but I thought that was also too risky. Acting forcefully could collapse the scenario, and the movements of the Demon Kings would become completely unpredictable. While it might be the best way to strengthen the protagonists, I can’t predict what would happen at all. In some cases, the Demon King might even use mighty magic. There’s lingering anxiety.
There are no do-overs, so it’s better to follow the scenario. So, I decided to observe how the protagonists move once the scenario begins and respond accordingly. If there’s no sign of the scenario starting, I’ll think about what to do then.
As for how much I should interfere… given the nature of a free scenario game, I think there’s some flexibility, but it’s better if things progress without me. However, I should be ready to respond immediately if any trouble arises.
Besides, I feel like it would be problematic in another sense if I appeared too much in public. In the ending, the protagonists without exception become kings. If I participate in the battle, even if I don’t become king, I might be asked to take on some important position. I’d rather not do that.
I’m merely leveling up based on game knowledge. I’m certainly not capable of being involved in politics, nor do I think I could be. Therefore, my fundamental policy from now on will be to act secretly as a mere NPC behind the scenes and have the protagonists defeat the Demon King. Well, there are some unpleasant events in the early stages, so I’d like to avoid those at least.
Since I’m not fundamentally changing the scenario, it’s natural for casualties to occur. Originally, perhaps I should save them all, but honestly, if I go that far, I’ll be hailed as a hero. Of course, I can’t defeat the Demon King, so it would lead to the Continent Annihilation Ending—
“That won’t do… I guess it can’t be helped.”
Although it’s a bit heartless, I’ll limit my intervention in the scenario to only improving the unpleasant events. I’ll decide which events to get involved in and how to act in the future.
Anyway, once the scenario starts, I won’t have time to level up. So, I need to prepare thoroughly before then. Even now, I’m probably already at a sufficient level, but I wanted a level where I could push myself if necessary.
And now, I’ll consider what to do about companions. The possibility of ordinary adventurers being useful as companions seems low, so I’ll reject that. Should I go with characters who become companions in the game? No, I concluded that it’s better to move around alone, so I’ll act solo.
Then, what I need to do is probably just ensure that I don’t run out of items while completing events. If I also level up further in conjunction with that, it would be perfect.
I decided to collect as many materials as I could to craft items that could be created in the game. This meant I would have to go near where the final dungeon appears… well, I’ll go check it out and then decide what to do.
With the plan decided, I started searching for materials. The problem was how much I needed to prepare, but I figured I’d just keep at it until the scenario began. With that thought in mind, I started moving from the Stronghold.
***
For the next year, I completely turned into an item-collecting maniac, hunting monsters relentlessly.
As a result, I acquired all the magic and skills I could learn… and even ores and metals that could only be obtained in the late stages of the game. The probability of getting a book was extremely low for such a rare item, but perhaps because I was equipped with talismans that made rare items drop more easily, I actually got quite a lot of them.
Regarding the current state of the continent, where the Book arc hasn’t even begun… it’s a situation where monsters are gradually encroaching on uninhabited areas. I even wondered if the Five Great Demons weren’t appearing because I had defeated so many monsters, but that wasn’t the case either.
At this point, I made a deduction… while it’s probably true that the Demon King invaded, perhaps the Demon Kings haven’t actually arrived on this continent yet. They’re likely in the process of invading other continents and have only set up various mechanisms on this one, so there are no members of the Demon Race who are concerned about me.
I thought that if I kept defeating monsters, I’d eventually be noticed, but it seems these monsters are created by absorbing magic power from the atmosphere. These magic formulas are set up in uninhabited areas and are gradually spreading. However, their strength isn’t constant; it changes depending on the environment, the presence of humans, and other factors.
I thought I might be able to stop the monsters by destroying those magic formulas, but while defeating monsters seems fine, destroying the formulas themselves might get me noticed. If things go wrong, the Demon King might show up and start ravaging the land. If that happens, with no one possessing the Sage’s Blood appearing, a bad ending is guaranteed. So, I refrained from destroying the magic formulas and only focused on defeating the monsters.
By the time I had collected enough items to create anything… frankly, I thought I had overdone it. I had money to spare, and speaking of my level… it’s just a feeling, but I reached a point where I felt I could defeat the Demon King without a barrier if I used advanced magic two or three times. I could even say I was like a bug in the system.
Perhaps it was because I was a player character, albeit limited to the early stages, or for some other reason, I don’t know, but it seems it’s possible for even a human to possess abilities strong enough to defeat the Demon King.
If my level were to be apparent from my appearance, I wouldn’t be able to walk around outside at ease… fortunately, it hasn’t come to that. Still, I thought it was unwise to leave my stronghold, where I had accumulated so many items and money, unattended any longer, so I renovated it, even though I knew no one would ever come.
So, I set about creating the strongest weapon using my overflowing materials… feeling a bit excited, I started crafting, utilizing a vast amount of items.
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Nice chapter