episode_0051

“Oww…”

My hand stung.

Serena, who was like an actual puppy, had bitten me hard enough to hurt.

But.

Breaking down the door would have been enough.

…Or so I thought as I gathered the shattered fragments of the door.

“Why are you collecting those?”

“They can be used later as weapon or armor material.”

A special alloy reinforced with dark magic—Black Blood Steel.

Literally translated, it means “black-blooded steel.”

An incredibly tough, heat-resistant, shock-resistant, and scratch-resistant black metal.

It even has the special ability to automatically regenerate broken parts by absorbing blood.

‘It’s a metal that requires human sacrifice to make, so I don’t plan on crafting it myself.’

‘But if it’s already made, it’s better to take it.’

So I took it.

With the Dimensional Bag, an infinite inventory, there was no reason not to loot it.

…Just as I finished gathering items in that mindset—

“GRRRRAAAAAH!”

A horde of zombies rushed in.

“Think they noticed we’re here?”

“You broke down the damn door. It’d be weirder if they didn’t realize.”

“So you knew and smashed it anyway?”

“Obviously.”

“Then what’s the plan?”

“Already set everything up.”

I loaded Lia onto one arm and Serena onto the other.

“Let’s go!”

“DOUBLE HYPER CANNON!”

“Now I’m a weapon too?!”

“If you don’t shoot fast, we might be in trouble?”

“……”

Serena gave me a slightly annoyed look but obediently summoned her and condensed holy energy.

Lia also gathered magic in her mouth.

“FIRE!”

They fired simultaneously.

KWA-BOOOOOM!

SHWOOOOOSH!

Lia’s magic blast.

Serena’s holy energy blast.

The two forces merged and wiped out the entire zombie horde.

“Whoa…”

“This is actually good.”

“You’re probably the only one who treats a god like this.”

“So… you hate it?”

“It’s… not that bad…”

“But this isn’t the kind of friendship I imagined…”

“Here, some chips as a ‘good job’ reward.”

“Do you really think I’m some easy girl who’ll be won over by snacks?… Huh… Mm…”

“How are they?”

“Th-They’re… good…”

“They taste even better with cola.”

“Cola?”

“That drink your daughter praised as the ‘divine beverage’?”

“Yeah.”

“Here, try some.”

“Where… Ugh… Umm?…”

“How is it?”

“Wow…”

“I’ve never had anything like this before… Whoa…”

Serena kept eating chips and cola, letting out amazed noises all the while.

That combo is broken.

The chips I had in Korea were tasty,

but in this world, ingredients are on another level, making the chips even better.

Then add cola.

This world’s alcohol is incredible,

but cola is so overpowered I actually prefer it most of the time.

It’s delicious on its own,

but paired with premium chips? Even better.

“Me too, me too!”

“Here.”

“Hehehe…”

Lia happily munched on chips and cola beside us, grinning brightly.

“So?”

“If you offer tributes like this, I might occasionally indulge your antics.”

“Sigh…”

“I’ll let you use me as a cannon.”

If I had my way, I’d love to try the , launching Serena (as a rocket booster) off Lia’s back.

But if I pulled that, I’d probably get smacked for real, so I just nodded silently.

“You two can have some too. Let’s eat together.”

“That’s why you’re the best, Cain!”

“Thank you very much!”

I took out a large stash of chips stored in the Sealed Holy Sword under time-stop and shared them.

Then.

Elise looked around and asked:

“Cain?”

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t we in the middle of enemy territory?… Is it okay to just snack and relax like this?”

“It’s fine.”

“This is part of the strategy.”

“?”

“Let me explain simply.”

The dark mage hideout’s defenses boil down to two things:

1. A ridiculously tough gate made of Black Blood Steel 2. An automatic zombie horde that swarms any intruders

That’s it.

But that’s enough.

Most can’t even open the gate,

and if they do, the zombies tear them apart.

Hence, the dark mages lazily research away with zero sense of danger.

So what happens if someone suddenly smashes the gate and wipes out the zombies?

‘They’ll panic and freeze.’

They’ll cower in a corner of the lab,

flail hopelessly when attacked, and die pathetically.

…Just as I finished explaining,

Elise raised a doubtful question.

“Wouldn’t attacking now be better if they’re in that state?”

“Normally, yeah.”

Attacking now would let us easily pick them off.

But.

We wouldn’t get all of them.

If we hunted them room by room,

the others would flee during the chaos.

That’s bad.

Like roaches scattering, letting dark mages escape would make cleanup a nightmare.

‘In-game, I ignored them, but…’

‘In reality, I need to exterminate them all.’

Games end after the credits, so 10–20 years down the line didn’t matter.

But in reality?

That time bomb could ruin my life.

No way I’d let that slide.

So.

I’ll lure all the dark mages here and wipe them out in one strike.

Hearing that,

Elise still looked confused.

“How does snacking help with that?”

“Sitting around leisurely makes them calm down from panic mode. They’ll soon regroup and call an emergency meeting.”

“Once they’re all gathered in the conference room…”

“That’s when we attack and exterminate them all.”

“Oh…”

“So snack time is the strategy?”

“Making your enemy lower their guard and herd themselves is a classic tactic.”

Of course.

Normally, this would just give the enemy time to prepare—stupid beyond belief.

But.

With near-clairvoyant intel, you can manipulate enemies like this.

“Let’s see…”

“They’ll gather in about 13–15 minutes. Let’s relax until then.”

The assault window is 15–20 minutes.

Too early = few dark mages.

Too late = enemies ready for battle = annoying.

Strike precisely when they’re all gathered.

With that thought, I ate my chips.

Damn.

These are tasty.

—

[Black Mage Conference Room]

The dark mages, tense, trickled into the room.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

“The gate was destroyed.”

“Destroyed?!”

“Not picked open—smashed through?!”

“Correct.”

“Do you know how many sacrifices we used to forge that?!”

“And now it’s gone?!”

“The invaders are exceptionally powerful.”

“The zombie horde was wiped out in one strike.”

“The zomb—WHAT?!”

“Yes.”

“That’s impossible!”

“Our spies suggest it’s the Hero’s Party.”

“The Hero’s Party?”

“The final weapon the goddess created to slay the Demon King.”

“Beings who wield power beyond humanity.”

“And they’ve come here?!”

“Indeed.”

Unbelievable.

They hid in deep mountain caves, camouflaged by foliage.

Even while kidnapping people to summon demons, they framed bandits for it.

No loose ends.

Yet the Hero’s Party tracked them here?!

“The Hero’s Party possesses irregular abilities.”

“It’s not surprising if they have detection powers.”

“Hah…”

“To be exposed like this despite our efforts…”

“It defies reason.”

“But there is a way.”

“You have an idea?”

“Indeed.”

“Had they stormed in immediately, we’d have to abandon all research and flee…”

Dark Mage Etluga waited until all were present, then spoke.

“But they’re waiting near the entrance.”

“Likely calling reinforcements… buying us time to prepare…”

KABOOM!!!

Mid-sentence, the wall exploded.

“15 minutes elapsed.”

“Just like in-game, they’re all gathered.”

“The Hero’s Party?!”

“Oh, you know us?”

“We sensed the immense holy energy from the zombie attack.”

“Only those blessed by the goddess could unleash such brute force.”

“That’s overselling it.”

“A diligent clergy team could reach that level.”

“The Demon King moves.”

“The goddess would’ve prepared the Hero’s Party by now—easy to deduce your identity.”

“Oh?”

“And—”

“Ah.”

“That’s far enough.”

“?”

“Figured you were stalling.”

The black-haired man grinned.

“Our ult is ready.”

“We’re not waiting any longer.”

“Ultimate skill?!”

“Go, Liachu!”

“100,000 VOLTS!”

CRACKLE! ZZZZZZZZZT!!!

The yellow-haired girl unleashed electricity.

The current surged through the damp floor, flooding the room.

Fools.

Using water to disperse weak beginner-level lightning magic?

Even a novice Mana Shield could block this—

“GYAaaaaaaaAAAGH!!!”

It didn’t block.

Every dark mage activated defenses,

but the lightning ignored them all, striking lethally.

“All targets captured!”

“Operation success!”

The black-haired man laughed while dragging the unconscious dark mages away.

“Hehehe…”

“Just as predicted—perfect prep.”

“P-Prep?…?”

“We’ll repurpose the demon-summoning circle you prepared. Sleep tight.”

“W-Why would you—”

THUD!

The dark mage fainted before finishing.

—

Cain smiled.

Using the dark mages’ summoning circle,

he’d summon the succubus lurking near the pope.

That alone would be fun,

but ending it there would be too unsatisfying.

So he prepared something extra.

VRRRRRM!

Revving the chainsaw from the Chalice of Sacrifice,

he activated the summoning circle.