Chapter 26

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Monster Wave

The fact that the Demon King was killed.

And the fact that after inserting the 'Path of Light' into the core, he himself died.

Serengeti couldn't help but believe it.

But she still couldn't believe it.

"Think back to what you said to me before the star."

Serengeti was cautious.

Her expression was even more serious than before I mentioned my death.

It meant she didn't find it convincing enough.

'There's something more.'

I know Serengeti. I know her better than when I knew her in the game. I felt a strange sense of kinship and longing when I met her as a player.

So I understand.

There's another reason related to my death that she can't talk about.

And another reason why I need to be convinced that I am the Knight King.

'What did I say...?'

But I can't remember.

Of course, it's natural that I can't remember.

At the time, I 'encouraged' Serengeti when I saved her from the star. I remember that clearly. The problem is that I don't know what the 'encouragement' actually was.

It was just a character command.

By pressing the control key and the T key on the keyboard, you can perform one of 26 emotional expressions.

The 'encouragement' command involves a pat on the back while muttering something, but I have no way of knowing what it was.

"Before the star, I was always worried that if you transcended by eating the star, you wouldn't be 'Serengeti' anymore."

But it just naturally came out of my mouth.

The content of that time, which I shouldn't have known.

"At the time, I didn't understand the worry you carried. Now, looking back, I must have hoped that your love for Hudson would never change."

"......Yes."

"Before the star, I encouraged you. Shut up."

"Ah......"

Shiver!

Serengeti trembled.

A memory known only to her and the Knight King.

I was just as surprised.

Suddenly, the scene from that time appeared in my mind like a panorama.

-They say those who take the star all change. I'm afraid I might change too.

-Shut up.

... It seems I pushed her away with my foot instead of encouraging her.

Is this encouragement?

And is it normal to be so moved by being told to shut up?

... Why is she crying?

'It must be because of reading the star's memory.'

A hidden effect of the Star Inheritor class.

Just as each class has its own hidden unique effects, I had one too. The ability to read the memory of the previous owner of the star.

It must be due to that effect.

"Is it really you, Wilhelm?"

"Yes."

"But your appearance...?"

"There are circumstances."

"Have you become a 'sinner'?"

"Sinner?"

A sinner is someone who has committed a sin.

They are usually referred to as those who are imprisoned.

But the word 'sinner' that Serengeti mentioned seems a bit different.

When I tilted my head, Serengeti wiped away her falling tears and said,

"There are people who call those who possess the memories of their death and 'possess' others 'sinners' and hunt them. They call themselves hunters or reapers..."

"I've never heard of that."

Reaper. Clearly a player hunter.

It sounds like a word I heard when I listened to Hudson's life story, but I didn't know the details.

Serengeti shook her head.

"I don't know the details either. Just be careful. Their obsession and persistence in finding 'sinners' is beyond imagination. According to rumors, they are the ones who hide a 'black bell' that doesn't ring."

"I will keep that in mind."

"And... there are things you must know about the Knight King's final moments. I still can't believe what I saw, but if it's true... "

Serengeti bit her lip.

With a trembling gaze, as if she still couldn't believe what she saw, she began to tell her story.

*

That day.

The Knight King forcibly opened a warp to the Demon World with 200,000 soldiers.

The resistance of the demons was fierce, and thousands of soldiers died just by setting foot in the Demon World.

The priests chanted and preached diligently, but the darkness of the Demon World was too powerful.

"The feeling is not good. It feels like the Demon King's army knew about our attack in advance."

The warp to the Demon World.

Only a select few knew the exact date and time it would be opened.

Yet, the demons of the Demon World seemed to have anticipated and prepared for it.

However, even such meticulous movements were shattered in one blow.

Kwaahhh!

When the Knight King swung his massive sword of light, thousands of demons evaporated in an instant.

The terrain changed, and all the traps became useless.

He was a god of war. The Knight King was a living god.

The demons standing before him were pitiful in the face of his overwhelming presence.

"The Knight King will not fall. Charge, all troops!"

"Kill the demons! Drive away the darkness!"

"The Goddess of Victory smiles upon us!"

As long as the Knight King exists, victory is ours.

But the darkness of the Demon World was deeper than imagined.

'Where did they all go?'

... As time passed, the soldiers were disappearing.

The distance between the knights and soldiers at the forefront and those lagging behind grew.

At first, I thought it was just the soldiers' slow pace, but that wasn't the case.

Serengeti sensed something was wrong.

No matter how much this was the Demon World, they didn't come in without preparation.

They opened the warp after calculating all possible scenarios.

Naturally, the darkness of the Demon World was included in those calculations. They even brought plenty of 'Dawn Torches' to ensure they wouldn't get lost.

'It's intentional. It's artificial.'

The soldiers were disintegrating.

Little by little, without anyone noticing.

Not by the demons, but by humans.

By the time she realized it, it was too late.

'Who betrayed us?'

A human in a position to disintegrate such a large army betrayed them.

And it wasn't just one person, but many.

It was impossible for one person to orchestrate such a systematic cover-up alone.

"Aaah!"

"Saint Seo!"

The saint walking with them twisted her body.

She had been continuously chanting a sacrifice to protect the knights from the influence of the demonic aura.

Her once clean and beautiful face and body were now covered in sores filled with demonic aura, and her eyes were turning black like those of a demon.

Saint Seo. Even as her body rotted, she continued to chant.

"Go, go forward. I will bless you with my life!"

"But!"

"You must not stop! You must never look back! This area is 'Flea Hell'! The place where the Demon King's demonic aura is strongest! Looking back will rot you all!"

Saint Seo was rotting her body with a prayer of dedication.

In other words, some of the knights who went ahead couldn't resist the temptation of the demonic aura and kept looking back.

A hell where you can't look back or help those who fall behind.

Once you enter this hell, you can't confirm those who follow, so the disintegration of the soldiers went unnoticed.

'Then, does that mean there were those who knew about this hell?'

This is a place humans have never reached before.

If they knew in advance, it means they were in league with the Demon World.

Serengeti looked at the Knight King, who was still leading the charge.

He was moving forward without a moment's hesitation.

This Flea Hell is more terrifying than the seven hells they had already passed.

... When they escaped the eighth hell, Flea Hell, fewer than 30 knights remained.

'Where... did they all go?'

Serengeti took a deep breath.

Looking down, she saw that her legs were missing.

"... Foolish one."

The Knight King looked down at Serengeti.

Just as they were about to escape Flea Hell, a trap was waiting.

A magic circle engraved by the Demon King himself.

The magic circle activated after sinking half of the Demon World, and it was supposed to take the life of the Knight King, Wilhelm.

At that moment, Serengeti used her transcendence to switch places with him.

The ability gained from transcendence takes precedence over everything else.

She survived by luck, but her lower body was gone.

"Kuluk!"

Serengeti spat out blood.

She was dying. She couldn't survive.

She reached out with her hand and touched the Knight King, Wilhelm.

"Wilhelm. The most honorable Knight King, even in defeat. If the expedition succeeds, please protect Hudson. And deliver this and my words. I'm sorry for going ahead... I truly loved you."

She handed him the necklace in her hand.

But Wilhelm shook his head.

"Tell that sappy story yourself."

He immediately poured the highest-quality elixir on the cut.

Then he took out a talisman and attached it to Serengeti's chest.

Serengeti's eyes were full of surprise.

"Why would you give this to someone like me...!"

"I can't use it anymore anyway."

The Ultimate Destruction Guardian Talisman.

The Guardian Talisman provides a safe haven by making the user invisible to monsters in the field.

However, it's useless against monsters that have transcended level 10.

But even transcended monsters couldn't kill those inside the Ultimate Destruction Guardian Talisman.

It had been reinforced countless times and broken through many levels.

But it wasn't needed anymore.

Because.

"Watch from here. I'll kill the bastard."

... The Demon King was right in front of him.

Goooh!

The Demon King's core shattered. The 'Path of Light' inserted into the core was tearing apart the demonic aura.

We won. We triumphed!

The long expedition to the Demon World finally came to an end.

But the joy was short-lived.

'What...?'

Serengeti couldn't believe her eyes.

As the core shattered and the Demon King died.

Zzzzzz!

The core exploded, and a demonic aura that seemed to engulf the world bound Wilhelm.

And.

"Monster. To push me to this extent without any 'interests' from the goddess."

... The shadow of the Demon King began to move on its own.

Time slowed down.

Everything around them seemed to have stopped.

The shadow looked at its body and clicked its tongue.

It was completely tattered. With the core shattered, resurrection was impossible.

"But that's your mistake."

The body was dead, but his essence lived on.

Only the full power of a goddess could destroy him.

The one who cut down his body was indeed an unparalleled hero, but the goddess's power, the interests, were not properly contained.

That's why he was changing.

Swoosh!

The shadow was seeping into Wilhelm.

Once it completely bound and consumed Wilhelm's body, he would be reborn in a new body.

This was the Demon King's final power.

'Indeed, it's incredible.'

The body that had transcended by consuming five stars was beyond imagination.

Not only that, the material of the body itself was beyond human. It had surpassed human limits and reached a semi-divine level through unimaginable training.

"......Hm?"

Swoosh!

Suddenly, a light began to pour out of the Knight King Wilhelm's body.

And the afterimage of a goddess appeared above Wilhelm's head.

"Lea...!"

The shadow strongly resisted.

It immediately expelled the goddess's light, but it lost the most important things.

"Taking the life of a knight who followed you to steal the 'star'? Can you still call yourself a goddess after that!"

The goddess had taken Wilhelm's life to forcibly take the star.

Thanks to that, the Demon King's plan to fully control Wilhelm's body was foiled.

In the place where the light faded, Wilhelm lay dead with a pale face.

*

"......There are no more memories after that."

"......"

"However...... what emerged was like pure evil......"

Boom!

Kwaahhh!

At that moment.

The ground suddenly shook, and the sound of an explosion was heard.

Soon, Hudson shouted from outside the door.

"M, Monster Wave! The city is under attack!"