The moment he died, everything he had been wearing, including the Golden Rule, got blown away, and only Maxim’s body remained.
Where should I even use this guy?
It was fortunate that he was still treated as a raid boss monster, but Maxim had nothing except high stats, he was no different from a meat shield.
While I was stroking my chin, worrying over how to make use of him.
《You have completed the ‘Hidden Trait Quest: Iron-Blooded Monarch.’》
《By ‘Eternal Randolph,’ the hidden trait ‘Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch’ evolves into ‘Heart of the Eternal Monarch.’》
…The hidden trait, Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch.
Meaning it evolved into the ‘Heart of the Eternal Monarch.’
The instant I confirmed the changes brought by that evolution, I couldn’t help but shiver.
***
Duke Cyan tilted his head.
‘Why is there no word from Maxim?’
There was no news from Maxim, who should have returned long ago.
It was supposed to be an extremely easy mission, bringing Serengeti back from Marquis Weiser.
Was he wasting time again, fooling around with some woman?
Or could it be?
Had he fallen head over heels for Serengeti, and wandered off somewhere?
“Lord Maxim has arrived!”
“Oh! Good, tell him to come in at once!”
As the knights standing at the door reported, Duke Cyan shouted happily.
Soon after, Maxim entered his quarters.
“Maxim! My splendid successor. You’ve come at the perfect time. But then, where is Serengeti?”
The problem was that Maxim had returned empty-handed.
“He, told me, to deliver this.”
“He? Who is ‘he’?”
“If you see, you will know.”
Maxim’s way of speaking was strange, as if he’d been hurt somewhere.
But Duke Cyan didn’t care.
Was Maxim being odd for a day or two?
Maxim was his successor, one of the Eight Heroes, and a trustworthy loyal retainer.
If he didn’t trust this boy, who would he trust?
Then Maxim walked up to Duke Cyan, and pulled something out from his chest.
A dagger.
The moment he saw it, Duke Cyan’s eyes widened.
Puuuk—!
At that instant, the dagger was driven straight into Duke Cyan’s heart.
“Keuk! How could you, to me…!”
Duke Cyan let out a groan.
Staring at Maxim as if he couldn’t believe it.
“What is going on?!”
“M, Maxim, you bastard!”
Hearing Duke Cyan’s groan, the knights who had been waiting outside rushed in.
They immediately beheaded Maxim, but they couldn’t stop Duke Cyan’s death.
…Maxim, one of the Eight Heroes, and Duke Cyan’s official successor.
The news that he had assassinated Duke Cyan began spreading across the entire continent in an instant.
Resurrection of Serengeti
A heavy, stifling silence flowed through the hall.
The six people gathered in a circle around the Round Table Conference maintained their silence, without any real conversation.
This was Rundela, the ruined city of Pangaenia.
The ‘Round Table Conference’ held here could only be attended by the Eight Heroes.
And the five gathered here now were all unprecedented talents called the ‘Eight Heroes.’
『War God Master.』
『Thunder Emperor Darkstar.』
『Nine-Tailed Fox Black Jade.』
『Corpse Queen Banhee.』
『Lucifer.』
“…Gracia, is absent again this time?”
After a long while, Master opened his mouth.
Because Sword of Stars Gracia had skipped this ‘Round Table Conference’ as well.
Since Maxim and Wilhelm were dead, it meant everyone except Gracia had gathered.
“Maybe he wants to keep acting like some lofty crane all by himself again.”
Darkstar, a man wearing a black band over his eyes, sneered.
It wasn’t the first or second time Gracia had refused to attend.
He skipped almost every time, always acting alone.
They dressed it up as “lofty like a crane,” but everyone knew who he was modeling himself after.
‘Knight King Wilhelm.’
Wilhelm, who had stood at the very peak of solo play.
Gracia was following the trail of his footsteps, stained with legends and myths in Pangaenia.
Even in reality.
“Is that rumor true? That Maxim killed Duke Cyan?”
Black Jade asked, her nine tails swaying.
She simply couldn’t understand why Maxim, an official successor, would kill Duke Cyan.
“It’s true.”
Master nodded in affirmation.
After confirming it himself, it was not just a rumor but the truth.
Maxim attacked Duke Cyan, and killed him.
Because of that, the Balan Kingdom was in upheaval.
Since it involved the ‘Eight Heroes,’ not only the Balan Kingdom but the entire world was rattling.
“Earth is already a mess, and now Pangaenia too. Master, didn’t you say you were sure everything was on the ‘board’ you made?”
A hulking man with long black hair covering his face sneered quietly.
Lucifer. He bared his teeth openly at Master.
Master’s brow tightened slightly.
As he said, everything on Earth and in Pangaenia had been on a carefully arranged ‘board.’
But from a certain moment, it began to go off track.
Precisely after Wilhelm’s death.
‘We managed to smooth over Earth, but…’
The first Dimension War fissure.
All people on Earth saw, with their own eyes, the other dimension, Pangaenia, floating in the sky.
After that, all that remained was for gates to open and monsters to invade, but suddenly the ‘King of the Dimension War fissure’ died and the quest cleared.
And the one who cleared the main quest was none other than Randolph.
The one they were convinced was Phantom.
And he did it ‘alone,’ before even crossing the fissure.
Because of this, Earthlings were suspicious.
Whether the prophecy, the warnings of the interdimensional warriors, had been wrong.
—It’s a sign of invasion. The monsters checked our strength and ran away in fear.
—An interdimensional invasion is inevitable.
—The warriors had already blocked them to some extent before the monsters could cross over to Earth.
The warriors all began saying the same thing in unison.
In any case, everyone had already seen the continent called the other dimension, ‘Pangaenia,’ so there was no room for doubt.
And the heroes gathered here controlled the players thoroughly, so no word would leak out.
Aside from the players, no one could know that ‘Randolph’ killed the King of the Dimension War fissure.
So they only needed to match stories among the players.
But… the problem was Pangaenia.
Master shook his head.
“This is no issue either. We’ll announce him as a ‘sinner.’”
Sinner.
A possessed one the Reapers are determined to kill.
Everyone gathered here was a possessed one, and in the Reapers’ words they were all ‘sinners,’ yet few people knew that the Eight Heroes were sinners.
No, most humans in Pangaenia didn’t even know what the word ‘sinner’ meant in the first place.
So if they were to announce Maxim as a sinner, they would have to clearly reveal what a sinner is, what Reapers are, and what possessed ones are.
Darkstar’s lips trembled finely.
“Isn’t that too dangerous a gamble?”
“Either way, it’ll be revealed someday. Better that we strike first. None of us has a ‘Reaper’ attached, do we?”
“You can’t be sure. They’d hide it to the end.”
If a Reaper is targeting a player, that player hides the fact desperately.
The Eight Heroes were the same.
Maybe someone here was being hunted by a Reaper right now.
Yet they didn’t say it, because of the Reapers’ persistence.
Anyone targeted by a Reaper is inevitably killed by one someday.
And if you’re nearby, you can’t help being affected. Especially if you’re a ‘player,’ when a Reaper comes to kill someone, the Reapers might notice you too.
Since everything about Reapers was still unknown to them, they had no choice but to be cautious.
Master spoke coldly.
“It’ll also be a perfect chance to confirm whether the Empire’s imperial family truly controls the Reapers.”
If there was a single group that stood out as suspicious, it was the Empire.
The Empire was the one unknown world the players had never been able to reach.
Nothing at all was known about its imperial family.
They had not even stepped forward during the great expedition.
They were so closed off they never appeared before people, and every player who had been connected to the Empire was murdered.
So it was only natural to suspect that the Reaper Church, and the ones handling Reapers, were the Empire’s imperial family.
‘Use Maxim’s death in reverse.’
By revealing Reapers and possessed ones first, they could drag the Empire up onto the surface.
The continent would fall into chaos, and suspicion toward the Eight Heroes would vanish in an instant.
Stirring this place was easier than on Earth.
“It’ll also restrain Phantom. If we directly spread information about ‘sinners,’ reports will pour in from all over Pangaenia.”
“Whew…!”
Darkstar clapped his hands.
The picture Master drew.
He was saying they would deal with the Reaper Church themselves.
The Church, still hidden behind a veil, would have no choice but to panic or come out directly.
And if they revealed sinners first and received reports from across the continent, the trail to Phantom might finally be caught.
Most of all, the madman’s rampaging behavior would be restrained to some degree.
“Not a bad method.”
“…Certainly.”
Everyone let out short admiration.
They had never imagined they would counter the fastball Phantom threw at them like this.
Master put force into his voice.
“From here on is the real fight. He obstructed us once, but there won’t be a second time.”
It was the moment Phantom, Randolph, was publicly named at the Round Table Conference.
***
The Eight Heroes already have, no honor.
Even if Wilhelm’s name was included there, it was the same.
They act like they have honor when they don’t, so it’d be better to shove them into the gutter.
《You have used an ‘Indulgence.’》
《Evil karma value is purified.》
After recycling Maxim cleanly, I used an Indulgence to wash away all evil karma.
Then I returned to the Garden of Knights, and granted Serengeti a blessing.
“W, will she wake up?”
Hudson swallowed hard, asking with a face that looked worried to death.
Bruises all over his face.
It showed how much Hudson had suffered since Maxim came to this territory.
To protect Serengeti, and restore her.
His efforts bore fruit, and Serengeti had completely regenerated the lower half of her body that she had lost.
All that remained was for Serengeti to awaken through the blessing.
Honestly, even I wasn’t sure.
My star power had risen a lot after going to Kramdel, but a Demon King’s curse is a Demon King’s curse for a reason.
And it was a curse used by offering half of the Demon Realm as a sacrifice.
《Granting ‘Star’s Blessing.’》
《All star power is consumed.》
《Star power is insufficient to break the Demon King’s curse.》
《‘Limit Curse’ has been temporarily (56 hours).》
As expected, full detoxification of the curse was still far away.
But the time of temporary release had clearly increased compared to before.
If my star power goes beyond 100, would a complete release be possible?
“Mm.”
“Ah…!”
Serengeti opened her eyes once more.
Seeing that, Hudson’s body trembled.
Marquis Weiser was the same.
Both of them had tried so hard to protect her.
If I had been even a little later, Serengeti and this territory would both have vanished.
The awakened Serengeti looked around.
“Hudson, and… my lord.”
This was the second time.
At her call, Marquis Weiser said,
“Call me father.”
“…Yes?”
“If it’s hard, you may call me as you used to.”
Marquis Weiser is the lord of the city.
As a noble, he was dignified, and in raising his daughter he had been strict beyond measure.
Since childhood he had devoted himself only to raising Serengeti as a knight, so he had never allowed her to call him ‘father’ when defending herself.
Serengeti’s eyes wavered.
As if she hadn’t expected Marquis Weiser to say something like that.
She had spent her whole life looking only at the sword and training, with not even a grain of father-daughter affection.
“…Father.”
“…My daughter. Is your body all right?”
“Ah…”
Daughter.
Had he ever called her by such a word before?
Serengeti frowned slightly and asked,
“Am I still… in a nightmare?”
The Demon King’s curse made her dream nightmares without end.
It was eating away at her mind.
If this too wasn’t reality but still within a nightmare, she was worried how the curse might act next.
“It’s reality.”
“Wil… no, Successor.”
Seeing me, Serengeti hurriedly corrected herself.
She knew I was Wilhelm, but there was no need to tell the others.
At my firm answer, Serengeti finally looked relieved.
Reality.
Not the cursed nightmare, the real world.
“…It seems a lot happened while I was asleep. Who on earth…?”
Serengeti couldn’t help but be angry.
Hudson’s bruised face.
And Marquis Weiser’s suddenly changed attitude.
Someone had clearly made them suffer terribly.
Killing intent surged up.
Then objects around us floated up into the air.
She had formally eaten a star and transcended, a transcendence.
Clearly, her presence was completely different from Maxim’s.
A transcendence made from a mere Demon Heart couldn’t compare in quality.
Of course Maxim knew that too, so he had targeted her while she slept.
“Don’t worry. He paid for his sins.”
“…If not for you, Successor, the territory would have been taken by Maxim and Duke Cyan.”
Marquis Weiser added.
Even his attitude toward me had changed completely.
After going through this, his thoughts had shifted.
Especially since he was the only witness who saw me kill Maxim.
Seeing me handle one of the Eight Heroes so easily, he seemed to have made up his mind.
Serengeti tilted her head.
“Maxim…? That coward Maxim? What relation did that man have with Duke Cyan?”
Marquis Weiser answered.