“Uh, yeah, Mardol. Still, doesn’t it feel very… ‘Helmet Guy’? He looked kind of sad.”
The glass helmet rattled faintly. No matter how much she thought about it, something didn’t add up. If Licht had been a Demon Lord from the start, too many things didn’t align.
“Well, I’ve already called Professor Dennis. He should be here soon.”
Mardol rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought, trying to unravel the mystery. She had already activated a telepathic spell and called for the Imperial Guard just in case. Now that the Demon Lord’s power had been neutralized, reinforcements were ready.
If he really was someone from the Heroes Church….
He wouldn’t have saved Sharitines and Nex, her older sister and brother. That incident was tied to the Demon Lord of Omniscience.
“…”
Most people in this world trusted Head’s omniscience without question. It might seem more logical to betray Nex and side with the Church of Heroes instead.
“What did Licht do exactly? He was amazing. He solved those puzzles that seemed like powers or something.”
“Black Knight… what is that guy even, Nex?”
“He could be a new hero chosen by Akasha, the God of Wisdom! Right, Shar?”
For an ordinary person, it would have been natural to flee the dungeon in fear.
“And yet, he healed both Kainel and Ariel….”
Mardol continued to feel an inexplicable sense of unease as she glanced at the blond hero and red-haired mage. If Licht’s true identity was that of a Demon Lord, none of this made any sense.
“Ariel, I agree we should wait. Licht ran off without a word last time, and he owes us for that.”
“…And Helmet Guy healed our Kainel and Mardol, so I’ll wait too….”
Their emotions were visible, even without them saying a word. Mardol’s golden wolf eyes caught the subtle signs that they, too, were worried about Licht.
“…He’ll be fine. Licht is strong.”
Still, a part of her couldn’t shake the doubt. Could that peculiar man really win? Her mind was filled with worry.
“This is the first time I’ve seen Demon Lords fighting each other.”
Her thoughts spiraled. Were all Demon Lords inherently evil? Memories of her past left her feeling conflicted.
“Even the spirits tried to protect me….”
A Demon Lord clad in black armor.
“He even worried about me last time….”
Licht had scolded her for her obsession with strength, born from the trauma of watching Magic Hat hurt her mother.
“And he healed my injuries. He didn’t have to…. If he’d known I was a princess from the start….”
She wielded significant power, enough to inherit the throne over her younger brother Lupus.
Someone else might have taken her hostage or exploited her position maliciously.
“…”
Does he… love the Nameless Saintess?
The thought of Licht asking her to protect the saintess while disappearing to confront Magic Hat annoyed her to no end.
How could someone be so contradictory and clumsy? Despite his strength, he never flaunted it and carried himself with the innocence of a romance novel protagonist.
“…Haah.”
She let out a sigh inside her glass helmet, pure concern leaking into her voice.
To think someone like him could be a Demon Lord—she didn’t know what to believe anymore.
“…Licht, you liar.”
She could only hope that he would explain himself someday. Phine drooped her ears and tail in her armor, quietly fretting about the situation.
***
Blood pooled on the ground beneath me. Half of my armor had been torn away. My ribs were broken, and breathing had become nearly impossible. Was it because I didn’t know her attack patterns?
“…Urgh…”
I was crouched in a corner of the dark space, gasping for air. Despite being on the verge of collapse, I activated the Holy Sword to keep my enemies at bay.
“Oh my, my dear… You held out pretty well. But I suppose it’s not enough yet, hmm?”
There were too many clones. I’d managed to destroy a few, but their numbers were overwhelming. I hadn’t even scratched the real Magic Hat.
“Well then… shall I take you to where I live? How about starting over from the beginning? Together, my dear!”
Each clone was imbued with solid magic, and even the shattered ones crawled toward me like zombies. It was disgusting. None of this was funny.
“…Absolutely not…”
“Aw, rejecting me? You know, men who play hard to get aren’t in vogue these days, my dear!”
I squeezed my eyes shut. It wasn’t because I wanted to deny reality, nor was it just the pain. There was another reason entirely.
Something had been strange with the status window since earlier.
[Contradiction detected in …]
[Contradiction detected in …]
[…]
[…]
A translucent red warning message had been flashing continuously ever since I’d been separated from Kainel’s party. The more time passed, the more these alerts overlapped and multiplied.
What the hell? Wasn’t the contradiction already resolved?
Even as blood gushed from my wounds, I couldn’t help but wonder.
“Could it be because Kainel and Ariel escaped ?”
This was pure malice. If I hadn’t been there, they would have fallen to Magic Hat, just like earlier.
I’d always thought the status window was useless. Even in this dire situation, it wasn’t helping—just nagging me with warnings.
“…”
In the original game, the hero couple must have been defeated here, suffering something traumatic that left them scarred.
The story described it as a lack of love, resulting in their retreat.
But this wasn’t a game. This was reality, where lives were on the line. Contradictions or not, it was my duty to protect them.
I planted my hand on the ground and forced strength into my legs.
[Contradiction detected in !! Lee Soo-hyun, stop fighting!]
The fact that the developer themselves was directly explaining things through the status window made it all the more absurd.
“…Screw off.”
I ignored the status window.
The people here were more important than I was.
Besides, I’d always hated the idea of quantifying love from the start.
Love? Affection? None of that mattered in real life.
Love wasn’t some emotion you could measure with numbers or define so easily.
Without sparing a glance at the countless notifications, I slowly pushed myself back to my feet.