Inside a dark castle filled with the stench of death, a king sat with his legs crossed, a slight arrogance on his face.
On top of a red carpet covering the damp floor stood iron golems and spiritual beasts that resembled terrifying wild animals.
There were four of them. Standing right beside the throne that wasn't all that grand compared to typical human kingdoms.
Then, just a few steps ahead, a loud roar echoed.
"Oahh!" —A kind of shout fueled by burning spirit and a strong killing intent. It came from a group of soldiers.
"Prepare yourselves! This is a battle between life and death. Don't waste everything we've gone through just to reach this rotten tower-!" A woman's voice, heroic and commanding, rang out. She was clearly trying her best to rally her revolutionary troops.
Without wasting even a second, they broke down the large door and immediately faced the figure they had been seeking all along.
"Surrender, cursed Demon King! You'll die by our hands today!"
She shouted firmly and clearly.
The woman was dressed in iron armor marked with the crest of a great kingdom; shaped like a sword and cross. She didn't wait for a reply. Drawing her sword from her slim waist, she pointed it straight at me, still seated in the same position.
"...Oh?"
I let out a disinterested sound.
I, Satanos the Demon King they were looking for; lifted my finger. That was all I did before slamming the loudmouthed woman hard into the still-solid wall.
The revolutionary soldiers who witnessed this flared with anger. Many of them immediately raised their weapons. But unfortunately, they hadn't yet received the order to attack from the hero squad still standing guard nearby. Maybe they were still coming up with a tactic or something.
I can move objects by will, though only within a certain range. So what I had just done was, in a way, my response to what they were doing to me.
"Guhha—!!" The woman rolled across the floor, now slightly dirty from crumbled bricks and debris. She stood back up, staggering.
Using her sword as a crutch was a smart move; and quite the cool pose for a hero who was currently losing.
"Tch! How boring."
Scenes like this had already played out countless times. Come to think of it, this was getting ridiculously boring. Like reading a story where the same lines keep repeating for years.
Still, no matter how boring I said it was, it kept happening. I figured this was because I had been unaware all this time, and I'd instinctively, automatically defeat the holy hero the moment the battle began.
And after the hero died… strangely enough, they came again. With the same scenario. The same reactions. The same defeat.
Which meant the hero kept going back to a checkpoint every time she lost. Again and again.
How ridiculous. Why didn't I notice it sooner? But, in the end, I finally did.
Remembering all of that, I immediately cast a darker atmosphere in the room. "I don't know what you're planning. But I do know what's going to happen next."
With those disinterested words, I extended my hand forward and began summoning the true demon army to attack the ordinary revolutionary soldiers. For some reason, I felt like they would be interfering with me in the next few minutes.
Well… since I already knew the scenario, this time I had to make some changes. I didn't want to keep repeating the same actions.
"...Unbelievable. Why… why do they look so terrifying?!" One soldier holding a large shield with a bull emblem looked up at me, speaking in a voice full of confusion.
They seemed to be forming a defensive formation. The ordinary revolutionary troops created a circle with their large shields. Behind them, as they trembled in fear watching my regenerating undead, I spotted something. There were three knights in glamorous armor and a mage hiding behind the defensive soldiers.
One of the knights, dressed like a noble, shouted confidently, "Do not be afraid. I've studied everything about what we're about to face." Immediately afterward, he drew the sword hidden in his sheath and flashed a sinister smile in my direction.
The ordinary soldiers could only gasp, "...Huh? What is that?" Their reactions were clearly startled but ultimately unremarkable, in my opinion.
"Those are our comrades who have fallen throughout the years. Apparently, Satanos has modified them into horrifying monsters! No matter how you look at them, they're S-rank undead. I can see and feel true demonic power emanating from them," said another man standing near the noble knight. He appeared to be a high-ranking mage dressed in aristocratic robes. Judging by his presence, he played the role of a strategist; focused on analysis and ranged attacks.
"Anyway, we must proceed cautiously. One wrong step could cost us everything." The one who said that stood beside the mage, a woman fully clothed from head to toe.
She wore a hood and an outfit resembling a nun's habit. However, her eyes were covered with a strip of cloth. I was certain she served as the party's supporter.
At that moment, my creations launched their first attack, prompting everyone else to brace for battle. Without wasting any words, the battle began as I ordered the undead to strike more aggressively than ever before.
In this situation, all I could do was watch from the same seat as before.
So… the main core characters numbered four. Each of them had their own role and respective subordinates.
That foul-mouthed woman from earlier was actually the main character I had played back then. She came from the Dragon Cross Kingdom, a nation known for its swordsmanship, though they were notoriously poor at magic. That meant they relied heavily on close-combat skills.
That's exactly why she was so easy to defeat the first time we met. She was terribly weak at long range.
It's also the reason it took me so long to beat the game, even pushing myself to the limit only to die miserably, because the main character was truly bad.
And the opponents… were absurd. There were many bosses, but regardless of whether they were early or late game, they were all long-range specialists.
Which explains why the game was so time-consuming. It took clever tricks to finish it. I seriously couldn't understand what the game developer was thinking. Ridiculous.
Anyway, the other "main characters"… were just regular NPCs. According to the script, the protagonist built a party by recruiting random people they encountered along the way. That's all.
So I never really knew the detailed strengths and weaknesses of the other characters.
....
"Tchhh, what the hell is this!? Even after slashing it several times, its body keeps regenerating… Damn it-!!"
It seemed that the army I had summoned had driven the soldiers to the brink of despair. Many were severely injured, and some had already fallen in the heat of battle.
The heroes, however, were another story. They appeared to be handling the fight surprisingly well. The noble knight, in particular, cut through my creations with incredible precision. He combined magic with classic sword techniques, and the results were… quite impressive.
"In the name of House Luficer, I, heir to the Fragment Blade Ragnarok, will put an end to this!" he shouted as he dashed forward with swift movements, slicing through my forces with ease.
Each strike unleashed destruction far beyond human comprehension. From my observations so far, his attacks left behind scorch marks—burn-type damage, resembling some kind of devouring curse.
I must admit, this intense battle was quite a spectacle. Around 30% of the army I created had already been slaughtered by these heroes who fought in perfect sync.
In all the previous scenarios, I had never witnessed anything like this. As I said before, I used to be far too aggressive. Whenever they reached this castle… I would wipe them out just minutes after their arrival.
But this time was truly different. I wasn't using my full power. In fact, I had gone out of my way to summon demons that were merely incomplete versions of undead.
"Well then, YOUR MAJESTY SATANOS, you've noticed it, haven't you?" the main heroine shouted once more. This woman was unbelievably stubborn. Even in the middle of battle, she had pushed her way out just to face me directly as I sat thinking about my next move.
Before I could respond, she continued, pointing her blood-stained sword at me. "You're the most unworthy king to ever exist in history! Even if your name were to be recorded, it'd be nothing more than historical garbage!" she said arrogantly, showing off her sword that now glowed with a golden light.
That was the divine emissary's sword. A weapon capped at level 35. And level 35 was among the weakest when compared to other high-tier weapons.
Its destructive force was absurd. It made the early bosses; and even mid-tier ones easier to defeat.
"Hey! I've had enough of that blank stare of yours! Say something before I actually kill you myself!"
Shit. I had been too generous with information. And now, that sword had already reached its final evolution phase. Apparently, that foul-mouthed heroine had activated her ultimate power—blessings granted by the gods themselves.
But I had an idea.
"Oh…? So you plan to kill me with that kind of approach?" I said calmly while raising my index finger toward her once again.
"Fin, Lea, Nour, Gab—join the fight. It seems our enemies are quite strong this time."
I gave the command to the golem and the spiritual beasts who had been standing by my side since the beginning. Immediately, the creatures let out deafening roars, leapt forward, vanished, smashed through debris, and dashed straight into the battlefield below where the heroes were still fending off my low-tier undead.
This left only the main heroine in front of me. She was still standing tall, looking fierce and proud.
For some reason, despite being drenched in blood, with dents all over her iron armor and her body staggering, she still looked... cool.
And then, she said something.
"I see now. I understand... So you're the type of king who hides like a coward!? Sacrificing his entire army just to protect himself because he can't even defend his own territory!? Fine by me…" she laughed loudly, wiping the blood trickling from her forehead.
Then, with a more serious tone, she continued, "No, even though I laugh like this in such a pathetic state, I know someone like you would never truly understand…"
This time, there was no laughter. She was gathering all of her strength.
Her dented armor emitted golden light. Her sword reactivated, transforming into something even more powerful. She shifted into an offensive stance.
From any angle, it was obvious she could leap at me with speed far beyond human understanding. I could feel the intense buffs surging from her body.
Hmm...