Chapter 290: Tough Guys (12)

In the Black Room, the masked mage beside me was stomping her feet, brimming with a sense of expectation. She grinned and threw off her mask. Seeing her face, I knew for sure. This woman was not Evangeline. If she intended to show me her face, she would have shown me one I knew. She knelt before me and shouted.

"Aaaaaah! Demon King! How hard it must have been to play the fool as an Archdeity Church priest! It is time to reveal your true colors! First, put on these clothes! Lord Cutlass will hold the Hero off perfectly!"

I blinked and racked my brain. For one, I had no idea where I was. I checked the mage's stats through the status window.

Name: Sibanne

Affiliation: Evangeline's Disciple

Level: 67

* Stats applied with traits.

Strength: 280 (+185)

Agility: 120

Intelligence: 370

Luck: 150

Traits

Knowledge is Power

For a mage, knowledge is power.

Strength increases by half of the intelligence stat.

Sadism

When attacking a target with a lower level, damage

increases by level x 5%.

Glass Cannon

Defense is fixed at 1, but all magic damage increases by 50%.

She was a bitch with no roots, but her stats were those of a named character. If I awkwardly acted clueless here and said, "Me? I'm not the Demon King?", I could die. A clumsy ambush wouldn't work either. One mistake and I would be the one getting sent to the grave. I put on the most solemn expression possible and recalled the Demon King's tone. How did that bastard speak again?

"Hm. Yes. You worked hard, Sibanne."

"Yes! Demon King! Now, hurry and put on the clothes! Once you're fully dressed, I will explain the resurrection plan Lady Evangeline and Lord Cutlass have established for you!"

Sibanne spoke with her eyes sparkling. Fortunately, the Demon King was actually the type to speak in a very solemn tone. She began to drag a blackboard over while swaying her hips in front of me. Before me lay a brilliantly flashy and uncomfortable design of armor and cape that a Demon King might wear. I fumbled around, putting on the armor and draping the cape over myself. There was also a cool sword attached to the armor, but checking the status window, it was just a sword for decoration.

There was also a mirror in the room. Thanks to the faint orange lighting illuminating the inside of the Black Room, it had quite the vibe, but perhaps because the bastards who made it were demons thousands of years old, I couldn't shake off the feeling that it looked like the ultimate item from a 90s RPG game. Meanwhile, Sibanne dragged the blackboard right in front of me and spoke.

"Aah! Demon King! I will explain the plan moving forward! First! If the Hero does not surrender to us! You, Demon King, will step forward and slay the Hero, who will be flustered by a sense of betrayal, with a single strike!"

I furrowed my brows and listened closely. I could hear the sound of swords clashing from somewhere. It wasn't that loud, at most it sounded like two people facing each other in a knife fight. It meant the deepest part I was in just a moment ago was very close. If they were fighting, I needed to get out of here as quickly as possible.

"Right. And then?"

But before that, I had to find out all of their schemes. Right now, Sibanne believed I was the Demon King. If their plan was to simply end it with the Demon King possessing my body, she wouldn't have bothered explaining. There was definitely a complex plan laid out underneath. Sibanne got excited by my active attitude and continued explaining the plan.

"Yes! After that, we have a special event prepared! You, Demon King, will hold the Hero's head, stand before the battlement, and announce the resurrection of the Demon King to the humans!"

I took a moment to use my imagination. Me, wearing bizarre armor, holding AA's head out on the battlement and shouting at the knights to surrender. On top of that, revealing myself as the Demon King. The battlefield witnessing that sight would be utter chaos.

"Is that all?"

But this alone wasn't enough. The people of the Church of Love I had met were fanatic believers who, far from having any self-awareness that they were minions of demons, actually believed they were doing good deeds. Shouting that I was the Demon King in front of these bastards would clearly only backfire. Did they have a security measure for this?

"No! Demon King! Apologies, but there are many on this continent who do not know your terror, so their resistance might actually grow fiercer. Therefore, while establishing the Church of Love up until now, we prepared the terrifying magic spell [Stigma of Evangeline] alongside Lady Evangeline!"

"A magic spell?"

Sibanne lowered her voice and whispered as if she were revealing a grand secret.

"Actually, while etching tattoos or marks onto the humans joining the Church of Love, we planted a Seed of Babatu in each of them. You know them, right? The parasitic demons that grow in the Demon Realm."

I didn't know what a Babatu was, but I pretended to know for now.

"Ah, I know them. Useful bastards. So what do they have to do with the [Stigma of Evangeline]?"

"Yes. When the [Stigma of Evangeline] activates, all demons in this area will undergo an awakening of their power. Babatu are no exception. Once these bastards awaken their power, they will immediately mutate their hosts into monsters that only think of killing humans!"

Hearing up to this point, I could roughly grasp the operation Cutlass and Evangeline had put together. These bastards hadn't escaped here because they were outnumbered or overpowered. Rather, they had lured them in with the intention of wiping out the Hero and all the kingdom's military forces at once.

The Church of Love was merely bait. Bait for the successful coronation of the Demon King.

Under the assumption that I was the real Demon King, there were no weak points in this operation. If I were truly the Demon King, I would have urged AA to go for an assassination in this central part, and AA would have accepted my proposal to end the incident with minimal sacrifice. If AA and I entered the central part of the temple like that, while Cutlass bought time, I would finish preparing for the coronation, and then join Cutlass in a pincer attack to kill the panicking Hero.

And holding the Hero's head, I would go out to the battlement to throw the enemies into confusion, while Sibanne triggers the activation of the [Stigma of Evangeline]. All the Church of Love believers guarding the fortress would transform into living weapons that kill humans through the power of Babatu, and begin their rampage.

It was an overwhelming scheme. That is, if I were the Demon King.

But regrettably, I was not the Demon King. I came from Earth, my current life was Peta Lusius, and I was a half-elf. No matter how much I searched my mind, there were no memories of me being the Demon King. I also had no desire to kill AA.

"Good. Then where should I go out through now?"

"Yes! You can just go out this door here and head straight down the hallway!"

Seeing how Cutlass knew Lua was dead, or how that slime whatever appeared to protect the Demon King's other self, it seemed the Four Heavenly Kings hadn't all participated in the operation together. Evangeline and Cutlass. And Sibanne here were probably the core personnel. I didn't know about Evangeline, but I had to kill this bitch first. I asked again to confirm.

"Where is Evangeline? I want to express my gratitude for my resurrection."

"Ah, Lady Evangeline didn't come. She said she had other things to do...... She's always been busy with summoning research since the old days. I'm disappointed too, but it can't be helped."

"Is that so. It doesn't matter. Then I want to give you a reward instead. Because you are a figure in our Demon King's Army who can truly be defined as "evil"."

Ding! The status window popped up in the empty space.

[*The Inquisitor effect is applied to Sibanne. Damage dealt to Sibanne is doubled.]

"A-Ah...... I never expected you to say such words. For me, Sibanne, who learned under Lady Evangeline, to even receive praise from the Demon King, I have no regrets even if I die now!"

"Then, I shall give you a small reward following a method I learned from the humans. Turn around for a moment."

"Yes! Yes!"

Sibanne twisted her body flirtatiously and turned around. I picked up an iron helmet in the room and placed it on her head. With a helmet suddenly placed on her head, Sibanne tilted her head in confusion and asked.

"Demon King? What is this?"

"Stay still. It will be over soon."

"Yes!"

Without a single doubt, Sibanne offered her head to me. I gripped my mace tightly and stared at her head. A situation where one mistake would mean the end. But there was no need to worry. Because my speed was faster. I took a deep breath and smashed the mace into Sibanne's head with all my might.

Boom!

[You hit an iron helmet. Double damage is applied due to the Assault Trooper trait.]

"Urgh......!"

Sibanne's head caved in the shape of the mace. Since I had declared Sibanne as evil, I received the Inquisitor trait for double damage. And by putting the iron helmet on her, the Assault Trooper trait was applied for double damage. Roughly quadruple the damage was slammed into her head. Sibanne's entire body trembled violently before she dropped to her knees.

"Fucking Bless!"

But I couldn't let my guard down. I had to kill this bitch here to minimize the damage. Before she could regain her senses, I smashed my mace into her skull once again. Her head, which was already caved in the shape of the mace, shattered flat as if it had been run over by a bulldozer.

"Ghk......!"

Sibanne let out a bizarre sound and sprawled on the floor. But I didn't believe a witch with 300 intelligence would die from just this much. I had crushed her head, so it was time to pound her entire body into pieces and obliterate her.

"Die! Die! Die! You fucking bitch! Die!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

If I don't kill her, I die. Seized by fear and anger, I pounded Sibanne until not even a trace of her form remained. And only after integrating every last piece of flesh with the floor did I finally gasp for breath and collapse onto the ground. Sibanne was no longer in front of me. Only the flattened meat that was once Sibanne remained.

I quickly caught my breath. I couldn't afford to look suspicious when I appeared before Cutlass. Cutlass was also the owner of formidable stats. If I could kill him with an ambush, it was best to kill him with an ambush. I chanted a spell to wipe away the blood stained on my body.

"Clean."

And then I began walking toward the deepest part again. Running wouldn't be very Demon King-like, so I had to walk. I could only pray in my heart that AA was holding on safely beyond the door. The door slowly opened and a bright light welcomed me. In that place, a man was kneeling before me.

"Demon King! Now! That pathetic Hero over there......"

"What nonsense, you fucking bastard."

Clang!

Swinging my mace, I smiled and looked at AA. AA laughed awkwardly. Just looking at this, she definitely suspected I was the Demon King.