Chapter 290: Demon Lord's Incarnation
"… Did he get even stronger through his slumber?"
The combat power of my dear comrade, who left his children to the First Saintess then slept for two millennia, was beyond compare.
The world collapsed when the Hero's head flew to the side after being punched by Noebius' fist. No, it didn't fly. It just… vanished.
His attempt to take away my achievement had failed.
And the price of that failure was his regression.
"Welcome, Sir—"
"That's impossible! How could someone like him do that… He's no more than mother's pet!"
"Sir Hero?"
Ignoring Lanuvel's greeting, the boy began to throw a tantrum.
He had a pretty face and neat silver hair that reached down to his shoulders.
Unlike the other people this institution abducted, he wore a complete uniform since he had prepared for this in advance.
Wondering if his skills were readied up just the same, I checked his stats.
▷ Race: Half-angel
▷ Level: 1
▷ Job: Hero (Experience 500%)
▷ Skills: Divinity ZZ, Haste D, Dexterity E, Martial Arts E, Karma F…
▷ Status: Relic, Confused
He regressed with all the skills he had before his death.
"Never mind…"
"Is that so? Please pull yourself together, Sir Hero! I know you're confused since you've been summoned here without warning, so let me brief you at least. You're in Fantasy. You're in a dimension different from where you were born. I know it's difficult to grasp everything at once, but I will begin to explain everything gradually, step by step. "
I would have tried to shut her up already, but he listened to her explanations calmly.
"Thanks for the information."
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Lanuvel, an archaeologist. I obtained the prophecy during one of my travels to study the ancient legend about Sir Hero. In ancient language, Lanuvel means 'truth.'"
"Lanuvel. What a lovely name. I look forward to your support in the future."
"I look forward to working with you too, Sir Hero! "
"My name is Riel."
"I see. Nice to meet you, Sir Hero Riel!"
Lanuvel giggled, pretending to be sweet, and the boy also laughed in return. The two then went to the Dumpling King to request an audience.
I simply watched them from afar, but…
"I can't contain my anger even though I'm just listening to them…"
"Calm down, evil hubby. Have you already forgotten the words of the supervisor? If you step in, you'll lose supporters."
"I know."
I originally planned to ignore his advice.
However, misunderstanding my intentions, he fled, and Ssosia and the Addicted Spirit decided that it was all a part of "the cunning plan of the MAX-Class Demon Lord." They left me no choice but to slightly alter my initial plan.
If there was no way to do it, I just needed to make one.
In the 1st round, due to the interference of my companions, all I did was struggle against endless restrictions.
I had to protect the elderly.
Avoid making women cry.
Fight injustice.
Fight honestly.
Refrain from torturing anyone.
Prevent myself from grabbing others' vertebrae.
Sleep at night.
Call my companions by name.
…
Because of all those restrictions, it became hard for me to find room to breathe.
However, I still refused to give up and instead overcame all the difficulties I faced.
I had already had more than my fair share of finding solutions through force, even if my situation was deemed impossible to get out of.
"Comply with the principle of fairness without increasing the level of difficulty."
If I personally showed up and beat the living soul out of Richel, it would violate the said principle.
Additionally, if I increased the difficulty, not only Richel but the rest of the students would be forced to turn inside out to become stronger.
If so, there was a simple solution to my problem.
It was often used by the Demon Lord Pedonar back in the day.
Alter ego.
Middle bosses, who embodied the Demon Lord himself, sometimes appeared on the heroes' paths to ensure they wouldn't forget about the "purpose of their journey."
And they were great bags of experience points.
"Evil hubby, what cowardly thoughts visited you this time?"
"Just shut up and watch."
Hero Richel was now in an audience with the Dumpling King.
His weapon was Divinity ZZ.
But things didn't go as smoothly as he wanted.
"Hero. I understand that you are divine."
"Then I hope for your support…"
"But I cannot trust anyone who has just been called into this world recently."
"What? Your Majesty, you spoke differently last time!"
"Last time?"
"No, it's nothing…"
The boy could no longer gain the king's support due to his Karma skill, which overrode even the effects of transcendent skills.
But he was still promised to be allocated a room with a beautiful maid, proving that his Divinity ZZ wasn't completely useless.
He still seemed unhappy, though.
I scanned the entire throne room.
Since the territory of the Demon Lord had greatly decreased, compared to the 4th curriculum, the number of demons and their followers hiding in the Dumpling Kingdom had decreased exponentially.
No matter how ironic it was, though, the number of demons and demon followers among aristocrats not only didn't decrease but, on the contrary, increased.
"Once they got hold of Dark Energy, the changes manifested automatically in themselves, including the improvement of every fiber of their being, such as their appearance, health, longevity, recovery, physical strength, etc."
As Ssosia said, being harmful to one's psyche aside, Dark Energy was an excellent supplement for health.
Thanks to the proliferation of flush toilets, humankind was now living its best age.
However, if there was light, there was bound to be darkness.
For them to live as long as possible in this wonderful world filled with flush toilets, humanity began to look for ways to prolong life.
And one of the solutions they found was Dark Energy.
It was difficult for ordinary mortals to get it, but the aristocrats had the means to do so.
And they did it very actively.
The biggest danger of the Dark Energy was to fall and be enslaved by demons, but since they had all died, there was nothing to be afraid of.
Until the Demon Lord returned, at least.
"Who's the best fit…"
More than half of the aristocrats in the Dumpling Kingdom, including its king and queen, had Dark Energy.
Some had it in their body.
Others in a pendant.
Or in their arms.
Or in their shorts… Hmm?
If one kept the Dark Energy not in their body but in an object, its impact on their psyche decreased, but it would still only be a matter of time.
They would fall anyway.
And if they had no skill that protected their mentality, it was impossible to avoid submission to demons.
▷ Race: Human
▷ Level: 44
▷ Job: Aristocrat (Bloodline = Dignity ↑)
▷ Skills: Dark Energy D, Dignity E, Authority F, Sexual Relations F, Male Energy F…
▷ Status: Fatigued, Enlightened
I found an aristocrat whose stats were suitable for the implementation of my plan.
D-rank Dark Energy.
He was no different from a low-ranking demon in that regard.
But he didn't have a single skill to protect his psyche, and his level was low even for an aristocrat.
"He's perfect."
My copies, sitting on the throne, gave the order at the same time.
"Hahaha! You dare call yourself a hero and even desire to challenge the Demon Lord Parmamon with such a weak spine?! And you, Lanuvel. Your pitiful pelvis… Huh?!"
The aristocrat, receiving the order of the Demon Lord Parmamon, ran screaming into the center of the throne room.
He pounced on the heroes and died immediately.
'Sorry I couldn't protect you!'
"The Count's stupid son had gone mad…"
"Has Demon Lord Parmamon really risen…"
"The Count probably just didn't discipline his heir properly…"
The level 1 Rookie Heroes rushed out in fear, but the "experienced" ones that had regressed at least once, like Richel, acted differently.
Each hero had their own way of killing the demon follower.
He was cut, burned, chopped up, crushed, frozen, set on fire, beaten to death…
"Pha?!"
Richel was simply unlucky, having been punched in the jaw by the demon follower despite his experiences.
How could anyone be so unlucky?
"Cowardly hubby, isn't that kind of excuse too far-fetched? Breaking through the reflection of his ZZ-rank Divinity overkill as it is…"
"But it happened right in front of your eyes, right?"
Richel didn't die, at the very least.
The royal knights intervened.
The aristocrat fell to the floor, pierced by swords on all sides.
The Dumpling King, turning blue with fear, shouted, his voice trembling.
"How could this happen in my domain?! Hero! Hero, can you hear me?"
"Uh… Oh. Y-yes, Your Majesty."
"This happened because I couldn't keep my subjects in line. As an apology, I shall provide you with gold coins and a letter of recommendation that would allow you to train with the Sword God Alex."
All heroes starting a new journey received the same reward.
Plus, it slightly made up for their bad reputation due to their Karma skill!
Where else could they find a senior who cared so much about his juniors?
I didn't increase the difficulty level for my juniors hunting me. On the contrary, I lowered it!
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Kha-kha! "
Richel restored his jaw with divine healing and thanked the Dumpling King, bowing his head before him.
"You may go, Hero. Defeat Demon Lord Parmamon with haste!"
"Um… Your Majesty," Richel carefully called out to the king.
"Is there anything else you want to say, Hero?"
"It seems that this demon follower is still alive," He pointed at the fatally wounded aristocrat.
But the king dismissed it.
"If he is alive, then we will question him and put an end to him. You don't have to worry about him. It would be best for you to focus on killing the Demon Lord."
"But Your Majesty! He was able to break through my divine protection with ease!"
"Enough! I don't have time for this."
"Sorry…"
The same event happened in all the classrooms of the Fantasy Institution.
In the throne room, the heart of the Dumpling Kingdom, a demon follower became the "Demon Lord's incarnation" and was killed by either the heroes or the royal knights.
By some miracle, however, one survived.
His luck must have been immense!
"His heart was pierced, and he lost a lot of blood, deceitful hubby. The fact that he survived sounds ridiculous…"
"You should direct those concerns to the healer."
The healer didn't know how he was still alive either, though.
He wouldn't know about all the effects of Dark Energy, would he?
There was no script error.
The guy trapped in an underground dungeon recovered overnight by some miracle.
That was no mistake either.
He was the embodiment of the just MAX-Class Demon Lord, after all.
I examined my new body.
"Hmm. This is a good physique. Its 'holy sword' is quite pathetic, though."
Even if I controlled the Demon Lord's incarnation that miraculously survived, it wouldn't violate anyone's proverbial principle of righteousness.
After all, I gave equal chances to every hero.
This happened only because Richel couldn't kill this young aristocrat himself.
If there were two incarnations, it would be difficult for me to manage them, but I could at least try with one.
"My God… that's cheating, isn't it?"
My cowardly little wife wasn't making any sense as always.
"What is?"
"You have to take a morality test at the Mollan University Hospital."
"If you say so. So are you with me or not?"
"I'll wait at the Demon Lord's castle with my aunt. You didn't think I'd let you touch me while you're in someone else's body, did you?"
"I didn't."
But this was somehow unexpected.
I just innocently asked if she would go with me, and she only thought about vulgarities.
"My niece— Hmm?!"
"I'll leave now and defend the fort with my aunt!"
Covering the mouth of the Addicted Spirit, Ssosia left blushing.
As for me…
"Time to meet Richel."
This marked the beginning of a senior's journey to support his junior!