episode_0073

“Do you think he’ll do well?”

“If he wants to live, he will.”

To make it easier to transport the Pope’s treasures + war supplies, they even lent him a .

A bag infamous enough to be nicknamed the “infinite inventory cheat key,” boasting an absurdly vast space, where no matter how much heavy stuff you stuff into it, the weight never changes.

There’s only one in existence, and even the veterans of the prophecy RPG can’t get their hands on it unless they rely on sheer luck—an ultra-rare item.

And yet, they lent him such a priceless thing.

Failure?

You’re dead.

I’ll let you experience what hell truly feels like.

…And with those words, you’ll get to see my demon-transformed self.

So, if you want to live, you must succeed.

“Even if I succeed, you’ll kill me anyway.”

“No.”

“Huh?”

“Choose your words carefully.”

Even if you bring back all the Pope’s treasures and war supplies, if you get robbed by bandits(?), it’s still a mission failure.

So no, you didn’t really succeed.

…When I said that, Elris stared at me with a somewhat complicated expression.

“What?”

“It’s just… If I had met you as an enemy, I think I’d have been terrified…”

“Me? A pathetic D-rank nobody?”

“Someone like you joining the Demon King’s army as a commander?”

“Hmm…”

What if I had possessed a Demon King’s army commander?

If that had happened, the game would’ve been over.

The reason humanity has lasted this long isn’t because they fought well— but because the Demon King’s army fought disgustingly poorly.

No, really, think about it.

The Hero’s party fights as a five-man squad, while the Four Heavenly Kings fight one by one.

Are you stupid?

If the Demon King + Four Heavenly Kings fought as a five-man party, they’d win easily!

Why the hell do they fight separately?!

If I were the commander, I’d have them practice fighting together a few times before stomping the Hero’s party flat.

Actually, there’d be no need for that.

Just take all four Heavenly Kings to assassinate the Hero when he’s still Level 1. Boom, game over.

And then?

The rest would be a piece of cake.

“For example?”

“Hmm…”

There are way too many ways to annihilate humanity.

But the first thing that comes to mind is…

Hmm…

Collecting monster feces and piss, then catapulting them at enemies?

“You’re… throwing feces and urine?…”

“Yep.”

“Why would you do that?…”

“Because it’s efficient.”

One of the biggest reasons humanity could win against the Demon King’s army was city walls.

They blocked monster attacks with sturdy walls, and rained arrows down to kill them.

…That’s the basic strategy.

Sure, the really strong ones can’t be killed by arrows, but monsters like goblins and orcs—which make up most of the Demon King’s army—can be killed that way.

Trash mobs? Wall + arrow combo. Boss mobs? Mage bombardment.

…That’s the standard Demon King’s army suppression tactic.

But.

What if that foundation crumbled?

“What does breaking that foundation have to do with throwing feces and urine?…”

“Everything.”

No matter how well-trained a soldier is, if they’re drenched in sewage, they will flee.

They’ve never trained to endure filth, and avoiding foul smells is instinctual.

So naturally, they’ll leave gaps.

And that’s the opportunity.

While the soldiers atop the walls are in chaos, break through.

Then, invade inside the walls.

Game over, basically.

But.

There might be soldiers with mental fortitude strong enough to endure sewage showers and not run.

Then?

What do you do?

Just leave them.

Feces and urine aren’t just smelly waste— they’re effectively poison.

Toxic filth?

Feces are full of bacteria, and bacteria on the skin cause infections.

That alone can trigger skin diseases through a very basic mechanism.

Here’s why that matters.

The skin is like a wall against external bacteria.

If the wall crumbles, external bacteria flood in and take over.

That’s right.

Skin diseases lead to secondary infections, causing severe illness.

In short.

A soldier hit by sewage becomes a patient.

So?

They have to withdraw from the frontlines, reducing the number of defenders.

That’s another opportunity.

With fewer archers, breaking through the walls becomes even easier.

…That’s the tactic.

Of course.

Some might be unable to bear the stench and rush outside the walls.

Surround and kill them then.

And if they don’t come out?

Keep throwing sewage until they do.

“Catapults outrange bows, too. It’s great for one-sided attacks.”

Normally, you’d throw rocks, but gathering boulders large enough for catapults is a hassle.

Meanwhile, barrels full of feces and urine? Endless supply.

Just eat, shit, and throw—that’s all.

Repeat indefinitely.

“So?”

“Efficient, right?”

“……”

“There are tons of other methods, too.”

The sewage tactic is just one of the simplest ways to screw over humanity.

There are plenty more.

For example…

“No… Stop talking… If that kind of info reaches the Demon King’s army, it’d be terrifying…”

“You think?”

“Of course! A sewage shower?! Just drop a meteor shower instead!…”

Elris trembled in fear as she spoke.

I hadn’t even mentioned the really horrifying tactics yet.

“There’s… scarier ones?…”

“Honestly, if someone fought like this, you’d want to bite your tongue and commit suicide. It’s that bad…”

“Stop! Don’t say anymore!”

Elris freaked out.

“Master… please, stop…”

Ria grabbed my arm and pleaded.

“My lord… I adore you, but… those kinds of stories are a bit…”

Sophia turned her head away.

“Cain?…”

Serena quietly called my name.

“I’ll treat you really well… so please, never join the Demon King’s army… I’m begging you…”

Serena looked more desperate than ever.

Her expression screamed that something truly horrific would happen if I ever sided with the Demon King’s army.

“Don’t worry, it’s not happening.”

“You’re absolutely sure?…”

“Unless the entire human race decides to hate me and chase me down to kill me, I’d never willingly join the Demon King’s army.”

“And if that happens?…”

“Then I’d return the favor.”

If the entire human race loses their damn minds trying to kill me, you expect me to just take it?

No way.

If they start the madness first, I’ll go mad right back.

“That will never happen.”

“I know.”

In other hero-themed web novels, there are plenty of betrayals—heroes killed after slaying the Demon King, or stabbed in the back before the final battle.

But here? No chance.

The Goddess of Light, Serena, is on my side, and the Hero’s party is my team.

So.

There’s no way I’d betray humanity first.

Sure, some humans might go nuts, but my reliable comrades will handle that.

…Hearing that, each of them chimed in.

“I’ll always be on Master’s side.”

“Just trust me!”

“If anyone dares harm my lord, I will execute them myself.”

“I’ll protect you in the name of the gods.”

Ah.

My heart feels warm.

This sight of beautiful heroines believing in me…

Yeah.

This is how a proper fantasy possession story should be.

In some fantasy web novels, the protagonist gets betrayed by heroines the moment they possess someone and ends up weeping pathetically.

But here? No such nonsense.

Regret. Misery. Obsession.

Common tropes in web novels, but none of that here.

…Or so I thought.

“Hehe…”

Ria clung to me with a bright smile.

“I’ll never let go… If you run, I’ll catch you… I’ll stay by Master’s side forever…”

“……”

No regret or misery here, but obsession—definitely present.

Still, this level is fine.

It’s obsession, sure, but not yandere-level insanity.

Returning to the inn…

“Should we prepare for the next operation?”

About a week had passed since the Pope started selling random indulgence tickets.

By now, those who wanted to buy them had, and those who wanted to complain were.

“After buying so many, why aren’t any S-rank indulgences appearing?!”—that kind of rage.

And it wasn’t just people in the Holy Nation complaining— others across nations were too.

Huh?

How is that possible?

Could the random indulgence sales spread to other nations in just a week?

Absolutely.

This is a world with warp gates.

If merchants put their minds to it, they could travel from the southern nations to the northern ones in under a minute, easily selling goods along the way.

Of course, transporting heavy goods increases costs, so most things are still moved by wagon…

But indulgences?

They’re paper.

Lightweight paper.

Easy to warp-gate transport, easy to mass-sell.

Thanks to that, wealthy sinners bought them in droves.

‘Some probably bought them hoping to pull an S-rank indulgence and resell it at a ridiculous price…’

Not my problem.

The truly virtuous wouldn’t buy random indulgences.

Ordinary folks couldn’t afford them, yes, but buying an indulgence means you have sins you want erased.

Most wouldn’t buy them.

So.

I have zero intention of refunding those who gambled on them.

‘Well…’

‘Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.’

The Pope would declare full refunds to save his own skin.

But.

That move = game over.

The Succubus Queen took all his wealth.

No money left to refund.

So?

What happens to the Pope?

Charges: – Selling random indulgences without divine permission. – Fraud for claiming S-rank indulgences (0% chance) had a 0.1% drop rate and urging purchases. – Attempting refunds but failing due to no money, adding deception.

Yeah.

Execution well deserved.

…Thinking that, I met the person I’d been waiting for.

My second ally.

If Geum Taeyang was the bandit specialist, this guy was logical scourge, contracted to publicly expose probabilities and destroy the Pope.

“Are you K?”

“Yes.”

“I’m K.”

“The Archmage, the great sage who awakened to truth—you’re claiming to be that K?”

“That’s me.”

“……A scammer.”

A glasses-wearing man—one of the Hero party candidates, a future Archmage if max-leveled—stared at me with disbelief.

He praised me when I wrote fragments of truth in letters, but now that he sees me, he doubts?

Fine.

My miracle speechcraft will beat reverence into his very bones.