episode_0088

Alice held Marianne, who had turned into a cat, in her arms and thought:

‘Well, hiding Marianne like this is doable… It’s doable, but…’

Another problem had arisen.

There was a critical issue—if someone asked where this cat came from, she had no explanation.

‘What should I say?…’

That she found it on the street?

‘No way.’

It wasn’t like wild cats didn’t exist at all, but the chances of stumbling upon a kitten this cute and lively were practically zero percent.

‘I heard there used to be lots of adorable ones before the demon invasion…’

Most had become monster food,

and the survivors evolved into fiercer creatures.

As a result,

a kitten this innocent and cute was essentially extinct—

a creature you’d never see in the wild.

‘Should I say it’s a magic doll?’

A magic doll.

Since Serena had possessed a dog-shaped magic doll,

it wouldn’t be strange if someone possessed a cat-shaped one.

‘The problem is explaining where I got the magic doll… and who’s possessing it…’

There was no way to explain it.

So she was agonizing over it when—

Buzz~

“?”

A sudden vibration rang out.

“What’s this?”

Checking, she realized it was an alarm from the smartphone(?) in her pocket.

“Ah… right, this thing…”

A magic smartphone.

One of the mechanical devices made by Golden Sun.

Only five existed in the world,

exclusive communication tools for the five possessed individuals.

‘Golden Sun called it a knockoff smartphone with only calling, texting, clock, calendar, and alarm functions…’

But purely in terms of features, it outperformed any magical communication tool.

‘It’s definitely a superior device…’

The problem? Its efficiency was trash.

While its communication capability was excellent,

its mana consumption was so excessive that it required regular charging to function.

However…

The possessed individuals had overflowing mana anyway,

so occasional charging was no big deal.

‘The problem is Cain.’

He wasn’t completely mana-less,

but he didn’t have enough to charge a magic smartphone on his own.

Yet…

Since Cain had a party of warriors with abundant mana,

he could just ask them to charge it.

So he carried it around.

It had been charging in his pocket, sucking up his mana, when—

Ding!

The power turned on.

When he first got it, it was just a hunk of scrap metal that refused to work no matter what he pressed.

Now, it was fully operational.

So she checked it—

[Golden Sun: Mid-bosses dealt with.] [Golden Sun: The rest have been handled too.]

A text saying all four mid-bosses had been defeated.

‘Fast.’

Well, they were possessed individuals.

She had finished quickly too,

but the others were absurdly fast as well.

‘Totally different from the Pope situation.’

The Pope & Succubus Queen Bestia weren’t problems that could be solved by just killing them.

Thus, it had taken longer.

But…

Most mid-bosses were simple foes that could be brute-forced.

With enough power, they could be finished within hours.

Hence, it was over quickly.

“Wait…”

That wasn’t the issue right now.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

She quickly typed on the smartphone and called Golden Sun.

Then—

Golden Sun answered.

[Hey. What now? Calling me directly just to give more orders?]

“Golden Sun! It’s me, Alice!”

[Alice? Why are you calling instead of Cain?]

“I need your help.”

[Help? With what?]

“I reunited with Marianne, but there’s a problem.”

[A problem?! What?! If it’s about Marianne, it must be serious!]

“Well…”

She briefly explained the situation.

[Summary: You’re worrying about how to naturally integrate Marianne, who transformed into a black cat, into the group?]

“Pretty much.”

[Then it’s simple.]

“Simple?”

[Neither I nor Cain are exactly transparent with each other anyway—we’ve both got plenty of secrets.]

“!”

[Just say: ‘I found a cat-shaped magic doll in demon territory and kept it stored away, but since it was useless, I gave it to Alice~’ That’ll suffice!]

“So when Cain asks, you’ll back me up?!”

[Of course we’ll coordinate. Makes it sound more convincing.]

“Convincing?”

[Anyway, go with that for the cat doll. As for the possessing soul… Hmm… Just say it’s one of the ancient heroes sealed in a tomb. He’ll buy it.]

“An ancient hero?”

[There were plenty of tragic heroes in prophecy RPGs.]

“Hmm… Can you come up with a hero backstory too?”

[Easy.]

Golden Sun quickly drafted a rough hero profile.

[This enough?]

“Yeah!”

[Then I’ll hang u—]

“Wait! One more thing!”

[What?]

“Do you know why Marianne kills herself?”

[Wouldn’t she know better… Wait… You reunited with her but still had to ask…]

“Marianne says even she doesn’t understand why she did it.”

[…That’s… concerning.]

Golden Sun paused, then spoke carefully.

[Alice.]

“Yeah.”

[Hand the phone to Marianne for a sec.]

“Okay.”

She held the phone to Marianne’s ear.

[Marianne?]

“Yes, I’m listening.”

[Let’s do an info exchange.]

Golden Sun fired off questions one by one,

and Marianne answered each.

An hour of intense intel-sharing later,

Golden Sun reached a conclusion.

[Alice.]

“Yeah.”

[I can’t say with 100% certainty, but I’ve got a plausible theory—about 90% confidence.]

“What is it?”

[Marianne is the next Demon King.]

“Next Demon King?”

[When the Demon King dies, the Demon King’s Core transfers to Marianne, awakening her as the next one. That’s why she kills herself.]

“She kills herself because she becomes the Demon King?! Why?!”

[Because becoming the Demon King grants overwhelming magic power—triggering a mana rampage.]

“Mana rampage?!”

[You know what happens then. Once a rampage starts, everyone nearby—family, friends, comrades—all get wiped out.]

“Then…”

[Marianne, after obliterating an entire village in her rampage, couldn’t bear the guilt and took her own life.]

“……”

[…That’s one reason.]

“There’s more?”

[Destroying the Demon King’s Core would screw over the entire demon race. So she opted to die with it.]

“So…”

[Original timeline: Marianne’s sacrifice ensures the Core is obliterated. No Demon King resurrection. Humanity wins outright.]

Makes sense.

The demons lose their king,

but humans keep summoning heroes.

The outcome?

Obvious.

Heroes wipe out the demons, expanding human territory until the entire planet is conquered.

Game over.

Humanity wins.

“So if Marianne sacrifices herself… that’s the future?”

[Pretty much.]

“But if she doesn’t…”

[Same result. Humanity still wins.]

“?”

[Let me break it down.]

“Break it down?…”

[Mana rampage. You already know how to fix that.]

“Ah!…”

A single cursed ring could suppress Marianne’s rampage.

‘There’s only one, but…’

They could get more.

‘Cain said…’

Cursed rings were relatively common.

Sometimes looted from monsters,

or easily bought in certain black markets.

So—

The rampage issue was solvable.

[As for the Demon King’s Core… Well, Cain showed how, right?]

“Ah!…”

Like when he extracted the Succubus Queen’s essence.

Draft a contract,

use its enforcement clause to extract the Core,

then—

Smash it.

Do that, and it’s a happy ending.

…Or so she thought.

[Marianne.]

“Yes.”

[You’re completely unrelated to the real Demon King, right?]

“Yes.”

[Killing, torturing, or utterly breaking him wouldn’t matter to you?]

“No. The more ruined he is, the better… But why?…”

[Wow… Then… There’s no reason for suicide as long as we don’t kill him, right?]

“True, but… What are you planning?”

[We’ve got… ideas for the Demon King. We held back because we thought he might be your dad or brother.]

“Oh…”

[But if he’s nothing to you—and you’d prefer revenge—then game on!]

“Huh?…”

[You hear that, Muscle Gay?]

[Pwahahaha! This is fantastic news!]

[Let’s go.]

[His ass looked kinda tasty… slurp… Wonder how the Demon King’s ass tastes… drools]

[We’re busy, so we’re hanging up!]

“Uh… Golden Sun?…”

[What? Make it quick.]

“Weren’t you ‘busy’ eating a mother-daughter combo meal earlier?…”

[That can wait. The Demon King crying and breaking down is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.]

“You’re going after him alone?…”

[With Muscle Gay, the Demon King’s a joke. Right?]

[Just trust me, brothers!]

“Are you sure this is fine?…”

[Relax. That dude gets 20x stronger when fighting evil-arse targets.]

“??????”

[Flip side: He’s 20x weaker against good guys or women. But no good demons exist, so we’re good.]

“And if there were?…”

[Impossible. His alignment detector is based on Goddess Serena’s standards—demons are always evil.]

“Then…”

[No male demon stands a chance against him.]

“What about females?”

[The strongest female was Succubus Queen Bestia… Oh, right. Already dead.]

“So no problem?”

[None. But just in case, all four possessed are going.]

“What about Cain?”

[He’s busy, and not interested in ‘Demon King discipline’ playtime. We’ll record it for him though.]

Suddenly, Marianne pushed her face toward the phone.

“Um… Golden Sun-nim?…”

[Hm? What?]

“Can I… join in beating the Demon King?…”

[Want me to teleport you there?]

“Yes! Please!”

[Got it. We’ll summon you for the final beatdown.]

“Yes!!! I’ll be waiting!!!”

[Later!]

Click!

Call ended.

Same time.

The Demon King slept peacefully, oblivious.