Chapter 88

"What the hell is this...!"

As the dying Velter raised the "Remains of the Demon King," the air changed the moment the remains pulsed with an intense light.

"Ugh...!"

The dense magical power made it hard to even breathe.

--This is the Demon King.

Just the residual magic contained in the "Remains" caused this much. The pressure was so overwhelming that it made me feel as if Velter, standing before me, was nothing more than a minor character compared to the true "King of Monsters."

"Damn...!"

The word "forced event" flashed through my mind.

At Roz's feet, a magic circle emitted an eerie light. Even though we knew it was dangerous, no one could move.

Ladd and the others were frozen in place, beads of sweat on their foreheads, while Mana, overwhelmed by the intense magical power, knelt and clutched her chest as if choking. Even Resilia, who had shown such remarkable prowess, was frozen in shock.

And I, too...

"It's no good. That... That alone...!"

In a world that felt as if gravity had increased, I desperately reached out my hand. As I extended it, the memory of the game resurfaced in the magic circle that floated before me.

※ ※ ※

The final and greatest secret of the "Vampire of Freila" event was revealed after Velter was defeated.

After stabbing the "Knife of Regret" into his heart and watching Velter disappear, we headed to the deepest part of the dungeon to face the "Fourth Demon King." However, what awaited the "protagonists" there was a scene I had never imagined.

When I told Nuek, "Even if we go all the way to the end, there's probably nothing there," while exploring the "Mansion of Roses," I wasn't lying.

There was nothing in the deepest part. To be precise, it was gone.

"...An empty coffin?"

In the deepest part was a large, ornate coffin placed in the center of a spacious room. However, the lid of the coffin was already off, and it was empty inside.

I was confused, not knowing what was happening, or rather, what had happened.

However, a clue to the truth was left there. A message, presumably carved by the Demon King, was etched into the floor in front of the coffin.

"Light, after awakening

Stand before me

Offer me your heart"

It was the "Demon King's testament" I had seen before. However, parts that were blurred in the diary were now clearly readable.

What caught my attention was the last sentence.

"...'Offer me your heart'?"

Until then, I had always thought the testament read, "Offer me your heart." I believed Velter was targeting Roz to offer "Roz's heart" to the Demon King to revive him.

Whether he took her as she was or turned her into a vampire to strip her of her will, the goal was to bring Roz before the Demon King as a sacrifice to revive him. That's what I had assumed.

...But.

If what needed to be offered was not "someone's heart" but "the Demon King's heart," the story changed.

Where was the "Demon King's heart"? And if the Demon King had been sleeping in this coffin, where had he gone after leaving it?

...The answer to all of this was right in front of me.

Unconsciously, my gaze turned to the coffin where the Demon King had supposedly been sleeping. When I saw the short inscription on it, I finally understood everything.

The empty coffin of the Demon King. On its surface, these words were carved:

--"Here lies the Fourth Demon King Roz."

※ ※ ※

The Fourth Demon King, Roz, is an unparalleled vampire king. For a true vampire who had overcome even sunlight, the only thing to fear was having their heart pierced by a stake.

Therefore, just before losing his power, the Fourth Demon King took a very bold step. He removed his heart, the source of his power and his greatest weakness, from his body and entrusted it to a trusted comrade.

This way, even if his body sleeping in the basement of the Mansion of Roses was found, he could not be truly killed.

To prepare for the day when his heart would be returned to his body, the Demon King used his last bit of power to cast a spell on it. This was the true nature of the "Remains of the Demon King."

The body of the Demon King, which had been removed from the coffin first, had lost its heart and, with it, the power and memories of the Demon King. This body is the current Roz.

What we thought were "cursed attacks" was nothing more than a transplant procedure to anchor the Demon King's heart, which had taken the form of a spell, into the Demon King's body.

For the vampires, this was not a curse but a part of a predetermined plan... The disappearance of the "temporary personality" that existed while the memories were lost was of no concern to the vampires.

Once the "mark of the curse" was carved, the only way to stop the curse was for the caster, Roz, to die. Therefore, there were only two possible endings to this story from the beginning.

--Kill Roz, the Demon King, with your own hands.

--Allow the Demon King to revive and turn Freila into a city of the undead.

There was no option to stay out of it. Leaving it alone was the same as allowing the revival. Even if you had never met Roz, she could still awaken as the Demon King.

There was no option to prolong her life. The "curse" on Roz grew stronger with each passing day, and it was impossible for her to resist it until the end.

The player was forced to make a choice. Kill her to save the world, or save her and abandon the world.

No, if you define the disappearance of her personality as "death," her fate was already decided. This was a predetermined tragedy, and the only choice the player had was how to stage her death.

The reason why the "Vampire of Freila" event is so divisive is because of this.

The well-crafted story, the emotionally rich dialogue, and the tragic yet captivating story.

Some people even said that this event was the masterpiece of "Brave & Blade."

--But I hated this damn event.

By the second or third playthrough, the emotional impact faded.

If you were aiming to complete the game, you couldn't let Freila fall. Since her death was inevitable, it didn't matter whether it happened early or late.

I used to make excuses and grant her request to kill her after she received the "mark of the curse." I did it mechanically, without emotion, but deep down, I always wondered...

--What if this wasn't a game?

If I could act freely, I could have saved Roz by defeating Velter before she received the "mark of the curse."

"Damn...!"

In the oppressive pressure that made me feel like I was immersed in a sea of mud, I struggled to move my heavy body forward.

I was so close. The opportunity to change her fate was right in front of me.

I couldn't give up now!

The few meters that were so close yet so far. Like a star, she was near yet unreachable, but I reached out my hand to her anyway.

However...

"Hahaha! My Lord! Lady Roz! Please, just once more...!"

Velter's mad laughter intensified the light of the magic circle. His vampire body was half-destroyed, and his right leg and left hand had already turned to ash.

But his outstretched right hand and his sharp, mad eyes showed no sign of weakening. The "Remains of the Demon King," glowing red, shattered with a flash, and a massive blood sword rose from it.

I remembered. The image of the sword piercing her body, leaving a mark on her chest that would never fade, the moment that sealed her future in despair.

But my feet wouldn't move. The few steps that remained couldn't be bridged.

Just as the blood sword began to move, Roz's gaze caught mine.

"Lord Rex... Help--"

But at that moment, the blood sword pointed its tip at the center of the magic circle, Roz's chest,

"ROZEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

I called her name desperately, and then...

"..."

Right before my eyes...

The merciless dark sword pierced her chest, and the "mark of the curse" was carved into it.

※ ※ ※

I collapsed in a state of shock.

--The curse was complete.

It was too late to do anything now. It couldn't be undone.

The dense magical power that had enveloped the area had already disappeared. But I had no strength left to stand.

Slowly, the red light faded, and my vision, which had been blinded by the flash, gradually returned. I could see the surroundings more clearly.

"What...?"

The sigh of despair that reached me on the wind. What did it mean?

Guided by the voice, I slowly looked around.

Radd and Nuek with wide eyes, Plana and Mana still kneeling, Resilia biting her lip as if she had realized something, and Roz, who couldn't understand what had happened, pressing her chest with a dazed expression.

Everyone was in a daze, unable to move, staring at the center of the magic circle.

And finally.

I turned my gaze to Velter.

Lying on the ground, having lost all his limbs, the mad vampire remained in the world, driven by his obsession to confirm the completion of the curse.

His final appearance in the game overlapped with his current form. The face that smiled in satisfaction as he received a stake in his chest and spat blood while withering...

"Why..."

But his expression was completely different from the game.

It was as if he had seen something impossible, staring at me in disbelief...

Sitting on the magic circle, the "mark of the curse" glowing brightly in the center of my chest, I casually raised my right hand in response.

"Why are you... there...!!!"

With a scream filled with shock, anger, and hidden despair, he turned to ash and was carried away by the wind. The "Castle Ring" on my right hand, which had completed its role, also shattered and danced in the wind.

Rex: "Hey!"

Next time, the Epilogue of the Mansion of Roses!

It will be very short, so I can update it at 9 PM without any problem!