Ch.86[Episode 86] The Story of Crushing Candy

Around the time when the Star I’m Not Little was creating his dark history, Sir Dominic found himself cornered.

In this candy-breaking game where raid rules applied, the purple candies represented the color of the enemy, the Chief of Staff.

The owner of the purple candies, which already occupied more than half the board, taunted Sir Dominic with a cruel laugh.

“As expected, criminals cannot defeat justice! Pay the price for daring to kidnap the Demon Lord!”

The Chief of Staff pointed at Sir Dominic with confident assertion.

Of course, Sir Dominic was not a criminal.

Nor was the Chief of Staff justice, and the Demon Lord hadn’t been kidnapped either.

The Chief of Staff’s statement was like saying “Holy Roman Empire,” but Sir Dominic, backed into a corner, could only stare at the board filled with candies, unable to refute the Chief of Staff’s words.

So far, the Chief of Staff had built up a chain counter of an impressive 17 hits at once.

The damage from the shattering candies was considerable, but fortunately, Sir Dominic’s special ability [Knight] activated, reducing the damage by 4%.

“It seems this is my last chance.”

Sir Dominic raised his shield to block the purple energy sphere shot by the Chief of Staff.

The red health bar beneath Sir Dominic had almost disappeared, but the key word was “almost”—a little still remained.

Thanks to this, Sir Dominic’s party, having essentially gained one last turn, began formulating their strategies while facing the Chief of Staff who still had nearly full health.

“It’s our turn to attack next. Plus, everyone’s special ability gauge is almost full. But…”

Sir Dominica glanced at Princess Teu Le Vante, the Demon Lord, and Grand Duke Po-Ru-Jak.

The enthusiastic Grand Duke Po-Ru-Jak was swinging a sponge sword over his head, preparing for the next turn, while Demon Lord Teu Le Vante was wiping away the drool flowing from her mouth as she stared at the candies on the board.

[All members of Sir Dominic’s party have filled their special ability gauges.]

“!”

“?”

Just then, Sir Dominica heard the words she had been waiting for.

Having realized through several battles that the Chief of Staff’s strategy was nearly invincible to the point of being unfair, Sir Dominica recalled when they fixed a primitive bug in an existing puzzle map.

When fixing bugs with a coder dispatched to a jungle map full of puzzle elements, the coder had said:

‘Every puzzle has a solution. There must be a solution. This applies to PVP as well. The central system would never allow a strategy that’s impossible to beat in the first place.’

That’s right. There is a solution.

Even in this seemingly hopeless situation, there are plenty of possibilities to win.

And Sir Dominica thought the answer lay in the combination of special abilities.

Usually, in maps where special abilities could be used and puzzles solved to reduce the opponent’s health, combinations were always important.

Each time puzzles exploded consecutively, additional damage was inflicted, and the more special abilities were used in succession, the more the damage multiplied.

“Gauge is full!”

Sir Dominica pressed her special ability button and raised her shield.

Then she drew a gun from her waist and aimed at the field.

Once she fired this gun, it would remove a considerable number of the opponent’s candies—the purple ones—from the field.

With trembling hands, Sir Dominica aimed at the field and was about to pull the trigger.

That’s when it happened.

“Do you absolutely have to shoot at the field?”

Sir Dominic, who was a mess yet somehow intact, asked from the seat next to her.

Although he had indeed taken heavy damage from the Chief of Staff, it was only recorded as damage in terms of data, with no actual impact on his physical body—a contradiction born from this situation.

“Looking at the rules, it doesn’t seem like you have to aim at the field. Even the Chief of Staff isn’t attacking our side.”

Sir Dominica seemed to have an epiphany from Sir Dominic’s words, opening her eyes… no, her eye wide as she looked at him.

Then, as if pleased with Sir Dominic’s suggestion, she narrowed her eyes and smirked.

“As expected. You’re better than me when it comes to combat.”

Sir Dominica’s special ability, [Shock and Awe], was a technique that stunned targets within range by striking them with her shield, then shooting them to inflict a [Suppressed] status.

It greatly reduced attack and movement speed, but now it could be used to slow down the Chief of Staff’s puzzle-solving speed.

After changing the arrangement of candies by planting her shield on the ground, Sir Dominica raised her arm and aimed her gun at the Chief of Staff.

The expression of the Chief of Staff, who had been grinning wickedly, froze.

“Using crowd control skills in a puzzle is cheating!”

“It’s not like it hurts anyway. Deal with it.”

With a bang, the Chief of Staff’s neck twisted grotesquely before returning to normal.

The bullet had lodged perfectly between the horns on his forehead, becoming crushed.

Smoke from burning gunpowder still rose from the crumpled bullet.

“Ugh. Still, the advantage is mine! Bring out everything you’ve got!”

The Chief of Staff pulled the bullet from between the wrinkles on his forehead and resumed his wicked expression.

“!”

“I understand the Demon Lord’s feelings, but I’ve decided to do everything to help the Demon Lord grow. Even if that means becoming her enemy. This is my true loyalty!”

The Demon Lord jumped up and down angrily at the Chief of Staff, but he remained resolute.

The Demon Lord became even angrier at the Chief of Staff’s attitude, her cheeks puffing up and her face turning red.

And finally, through her anger, the Demon Lord used her true special ability that she had been hiding.

[The Demon Lord’s special abilities, [Rule Breaker] and [Undefeated Myth (Conditional)], have been activated!]

In the height of her fury, the Demon Lord brought out a special ability that should never exist in a game: [Rule Breaker].

Perhaps lacking sugar due to excessive anger, the Demon Lord grabbed the purple candies from the game board and stuffed them into her mouth.

“W-wait? My Lord! You’ll get cavities that way! Candies should be limited to one per day—”

But the Demon Lord ignored the Chief of Staff’s words.

The Chief of Staff was the enemy and had declared he would face her with all his might. Then she too had the right to deviate with all her might.

With cheeks puffed up with candies like a squirrel, the Demon Lord glared at the Chief of Staff with an angry expression.

Even up to this point, the Chief of Staff might still have won, but the Demon Lord’s second special ability activated.

A hidden trait never before announced.

A trait that would never have been revealed to the world unless a skilled coder had done data mining.

[Undefeated Myth (Conditional)] had been activated.

Have you ever thought about it?

Why does a Demon Lord thrive until a hero appears?

Why can a hero, who is weaker than an entire empire, inflict additional damage on a Demon Lord?

The Demon Lord and the hero, and the legacy of incompetent kingdoms and empires.

This skill originated from such legacies.

Being conditional, it would be useless in certain situations… that is, if there were a hero present, but currently, Demon Lord Teu Le Vante had no natural enemy!

The moment Demon Lord Teu Le Vante decided to ‘win,’ the game was already won.

Truly an absurd and absolute power!

“This is… My Lord! Is it necessary to go this far?”

The Chief of Staff cried out.

The fact that the Demon Lord showed her full power meant she viewed him as a complete enemy.

This was harsh for the Chief of Staff, who claimed to be the Demon Lord’s loyal servant.

What on earth did those kidnappers have that was so appealing!

The Chief of Staff knew well how to escape this situation.

Declare defeat in this round and return to the Demon Lord to seek forgiveness.

But when the kidnapper intervened in the middle of the logic, the story changed.

The Chief of Staff didn’t want to lose to the kidnapper, Sir Dominic, again.

This was the pride of the Demon Lord’s close aide, and he also considered it a matter related to the Demon Lord’s dignity.

In the Chief of Staff’s mind, both choices were for the Demon Lord’s sake.

That’s why he was wracking his brain, unable to choose one option.

“It looks like we’re going to win.”

“I don’t think we should raise flags just yet.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica watched the Chief of Staff in agony, thinking the tide of victory had almost turned in their favor.

That thought was correct. The Chief of Staff finally knelt down and declared defeat, unable to beat the Demon Lord.

“I have lost, my Lord.”

Kneeling before the Demon Lord, the Chief of Staff bowed his head and begged forgiveness from the anger-filled Demon Lord.

“I have dared to anger my Lord, so do with me as you wish.”

Prostrating himself completely, the Chief of Staff awaited the Demon Lord’s judgment.

The Demon Lord looked at the Chief of Staff with cold eyes.

Her small body with a 2:1 head-to-body ratio seemed about the same height as the Chief of Staff’s crown, but the Demon Lord’s presence was already that of a giant.

In fact, at this point, the Demon Lord was already in a state where she couldn’t control her body and mind.

[Rule Breaker] was about shattering desired rules.

However, it was a special skill that required precise and delicate power control.

The Demon Lord, still unfamiliar with such immense power, was completely losing her original self after using her second skill [Undefeated Myth] as well.

From a pure yet wicked little Demon Lord to a cold one who was strict about rewarding good and punishing evil, and who could not forgive anything that opposed her.

This could also be seen through her physical form.

Her body, which had been in a 2:1 proportion, had now grown to a 3:1 proportion.

A critical situation where she might truly become a Demon Lord.

Finally, having decided on the Chief of Staff’s fate, the Demon Lord created a blade of demonic energy and was about to strike his neck—

Clang—

The sound of sharp objects colliding rang out.

“!”

Golden hair fluttering like the sun and a red velvet cape rippling like waves.

Between the shattered demonic blade that had collided with the swung flexible sword were eyes of firm resolve.

A golden crown that began to shine from the head, appearing like a halo.

Yes, there was another person here besides Sir Dominic, Sir Dominica, and Demon Lord Teu Le Vante.

Grand Duke Po-Ru-Jak.

And Grand Duke Po-Ru-Jak was a hero.

The tide began to turn.