Having left the Great Cursed Realm and journeyed due south across the wasteland, a single girl appeared at the main defensive stronghold guarded by Brave Questus Demon Lord's army's Four Heavenly Kings, Lady Wind.
The girl bore what looked like festering burns across one half of her body, and she wore attire deliberately designed to expose those very wounds. Moreover, in the one visible eye beneath her downcast expression, something resembling a magic circle floated upon the iris. Most of all, the dense miasma of dark energy that clung to her clearly told that this girl was no ordinary maiden.
Though the moonlit night illuminated the surroundings, the hour was already deep into the night.
Materializing like a specter, this hopelessly out-of-place girl prompted an involuntary look of shock from Lady Wind, the Four Heavenly King charged with defending the stronghold, before the composure instantly returned to her expression.
Lady Wind, the Heavenly King of the Wind.
Dressed in a dancer-like costume of pale green hues and possessing bluish-white skin, she was the only woman among the Four Heavenly Kings. But of course, she too possessed judgment far beyond that of any common monster.
Thus, issuing orders to her intelligent subordinates, it took no time at all for them to surround the girl.
Her name was Kyria Elful.
"Oh my, oh my! What a naughty little girl you are! Do you know this is the Demon Lord's army's defensive stronghold—the lair of Lady Wind, the Heavenly King of the Wind?"
There was no reply.
Well, she seemed to be muttering something to herself, but the distance was too great to make out the words.
Lady Wind, suspicion etched on her features, nonetheless strode forward with regal composure and came to stand before Kyria.
The night-seeing monster subordinates had already assumed battle formation, and the encirclement left no gap for even a mouse to slip through. These monsters were the handpicked elite, summoned to advance the conquest of the world. Furthermore, she herself was one of the Four Heavenly Kings—the Wind's Lady Wind. The absolute confidence she carried, along with the superiority felt by a predator toward the fragile beings beyond their own kind, had purged any trace of vigilance or caution from her heart.
"Haa... I don't know where you came from, but are you from that town of humans, perhaps? Goodness gracious, you have some nerve coming here alone."
"Why do Kyria and the others have to suffer like this? Why do terrible things keep happening? Why... is the world so full of suffering?"
No reply came; instead, the muttered words were ones of regret and hatred.
Lady Wind could not say what had transpired in her life. But perhaps she was lamenting her circumstances over whatever sacrifice or offering had been presented to them, she surmised.
"What are you saying, dear? You were dragged here against your will? Oh my! Oh dear, oh dear! What a pitiful young lady! Well then, since you're so pitiful, we'll bully you just a teensy bit first, and then put you out of your misery!"
Whether it was something in those words that she reacted to, or simply the volume of the voice that caught her attention—the girl, Kyaria, slowly raised her face. She looked at Lady Wind with an expression as though she had only just noticed she was standing in the very heart of the Demon Lord's army, staring intently into her face.
"You... you have quite a spirited look about you. The face of someone confident in their own strength. The face of one who does not doubt themselves, who prides themselves on being powerful."
Only then did Lady Wind finally realize.
That their conversation had been fundamentally missing the mark. What those eyes, traced with strange patterns, reflected was nothing but madness.
And at the same time, that the other party was someone who demanded one's utmost vigilance.
"...Be on your guard. Something is wrong with that girl."
She drew her armed whip and took a fighting stance.
At the same time, the monsters under her command raised threatening cries.
It was true that she had underestimated the girl. But even setting that aside, the opponent was only a single person. What could one accomplish in this place where countless monsters swarmed?
A nameless unease crept over Lady Wind, and she twisted her face in irritation.
"It aches. The scar on my face... the version of myself who believed everything would work out is screaming."
The girl's monologue continued.
But what was different from before was that she was now slowly advancing toward Lady Wind.
Her attitude was as though the very emotions of fear and tension had been entirely wiped away, and Lady Wind could not bear it, involuntarily crying out.
"You noisy child! Shall I have you shut your mouth for a moment? Do it!"
At Lady Wind's command, monsters swarm the carrier…
The reason she didn't attack personally was due to strong wariness within Lady Wind. The opponent's existence was an unknown. For her, who ranked lowest among the Four Heavenly Kings in simple combat power, this was a survival tactic.
Monsters up to the system's maximum unit limit join the attack, and her small body vanishes from sight, hidden in their shadows.
Then, dull thuds of blows and chewing sounds echo… and eventually, Lady Wind becomes certain of victory.
"Oh, Mother. I'm sorry, Mother. Because I was powerless, because I allowed myself to hope again…"
However… the mad girl's monologue continued to reach Lady Wind's ears unchanged.
"What… what is that?"
The sight before her made Lady Wind gasp in involuntary shock.
The girl's body… was indeed wounded by the monsters' attacks.
Claws and fangs… and weapons like clubs and spears had struck her, and red blood flowed from all over her body.
But even more so, the monsters that had been attacking her were rotting away, collapsing into mush.
Orcs, goblins, Hill Giants. Even demon-kind, which held a superior position in the monster hierarchy…
It was as if afflicted by some potent plague; their bodies swelled, and a viscous mixture of blood and pus oozed from them.
Soon, the pungent stench of decay filled the air, carried on the monsters' cries of agony, and in the blink of an eye, her wretched subordinates crumbled and turned into gold coins.
"I knew… I knew that if you rely on anyone in this world, you'll suffer terribly. I knew that hoping would be no good. The world hates Kari. The world despises Kari completely…"
The girl simply confesses.
Her eyes seemed to reflect nothing now, her words directed at herself and someone no longer present.
Before one realized it… all of the girl's wounds had closed.
(What happened!? The monsters are taken out!? Damn it! Enemies!! But how... poison magic? No... I've never heard of such powerful magic! More importantly—why is that girl recovering!?)
Unconsciously retreating, I tried to gather information.
I didn't know what was happening.
But I understood I was facing a lethal attack.
In an instant... in a single instant, Lady Wind's proudly boasted subordinates were all slain.
That attack power was immeasurable.
"Hey, why have you been staring at Klee?"
Before I realized it... the girl had turned her gaze toward me. Lady Wind noticed this.
Even for her, a demonkin, those burning-bright eyes sent a chill down her spine. She felt an eerie presence, as if hell itself had been condensed and draped in human skin.
Lady Wind gave no reply. Instead, she readied her prey, cracked her whip, and moved to strike the girl.
"You too shall rot—"
"Huh—eh?"
Her vision blurred, becoming sticky and warped.
"Skreeeeeeeeaaaaaaah! My faaaaaace!!!"
Lady Wind screamed. Without needing to check, she understood.
Her own face was now rotting and crumbling away. That face, her secret pride, was being defiled just like the girl before her.
With no preliminary movement, no sign of activation, that invisible attack had struck her suddenly.
"You little wretch!!! Blow, howl—Gale of Black Curse!!"
But Lady Wind, the target of this assault, was not so foolish as to be defeated without a fight.
Shielding her face with her hand, she unleashed her ultimate technique.
This was her ultimate technique—a killing blow unique to her alone. The Black Cursed Wind was a merciless, persistent debuff spell woven from dark mana and her own bespoke sorcery, halving all of a target's stats mid-combat. Because it affected every ability, it could cripple an opponent's combat power exponentially—a trait bordering on outright cheating.
Yet this technique had a fatal flaw. The very existence of that flaw was why she resigned herself to being the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings. That flaw was...
=Message===
The hero, awakened to his mission, is enveloped by holy protection.
The curse has no effect on the carrier.
"…Huh? You're kidding, right?"
The fact revealed by Lady Wind's shrill, disbelieving voice was this spell's one and only, most critical weakness. The hero of Brave Questus, after a certain event, receives a specific divine blessing. That blessing nullifies all unreasonable curses aimed at him, invalidating any and every detrimental status effect that might hinder his power.
It was one thing for party members fighting alongside him to suffer—but having the hero's stats halved was absolutely unthinkable. A hero is an absolute existence.
(Panic. Panic. Panic. Panic!!)
Glancing around, she could see her subordinates rotting and falling away in every direction as far as the eye could see. Higher-level monsters decayed slower, true, but the destination was the same for all.
Furthermore, the outcome she would face for lacking a clear countermeasure would be no different.
Here, Lady Wind finally understood that the unease she'd been sensing was an instinctive warning bell.
She possessed no memories from repeated game sessions.
Therefore, this was the first time her own techniques had been nullified.
She had only heard vague rumors of the Hero's existence, so she could never connect it to the power of the girl before her.
She had, from the very start, reigned as an absolute power—until now, she had never once been in the position of the one being hunted.
(What is this? What is this monster?! No one told me this! That such a monster could exist—no one told me!!)
That was precisely why... her composure shattered beyond imagination.
The sheer panic gripping Lady Wind, who should have existed as one of the proud Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Lord, was entirely befitting of such a state.
"AAAAAAAAAHH!!"
=Message===
Lady Wind fled.
―――
With a scream, she cast wind magic and launched herself violently into the air.
Her chosen method was the most foolish and unforgivable.
Did she not know?
That boss monsters, including the Demon Lord's Four Heavenly Kings, were bound by the game system's constraints once they engaged in combat, making it absolutely impossible to escape?
Perhaps she had never fled before, so she was unaware of this constraint?
Or perhaps she knew, but was gripped by a terror so profound that fleeing was her only thought regardless?
Either way, the system was merciless.
It is adapted to the world according to established rules.
=Message===
A boss monster cannot flee.
―――
=Message===
It cannot flee from the hero.
―――
=Message===
It cannot flee from the witch.
―――
=Message===
Lady Wind's escape has failed!
―――
As if bound by an invisible force, her body became fixed, lost buoyancy, and plummeted. When the impact with the ground left her dazed and she lifted her face with a groan, her eyes met those of the girl watching her with glowing eyes—Karia. The Wind Sovereign, Lady Wind, was... hallucinating memories she'd never seen anywhere, anywhere at all, as she faced an entity that could be described as neither light nor darkness, and despair took hold.
"Ah, wait... guh, cough, bleh..."
Her body was putrefying, turning to mush.
Step by step, death visited quietly.
The girl watched Lady Wind in silence. Just silently, with eyes that evoked hell.
"Pl-please..."
At last, in a faint voice, she begged for her life—then Lady Wind was reduced to gold coins.
=Eterpedia===
[The Witch of Regret, Carrera = Elful] Combat Unit
Combat Strength: 22 Movement: 2
<Predation> <Plague Infection>
<Evil> <Hero (False)> <Hero (False)> <Fanaticism>
※The more the moon is visible, the greater her madness and combat ability become.
On the night of the full moon, her power reaches its peak.
―――
The moon shines beautifully.
◇ ◇ ◇
It was a hellish place where those who belonged to the demonic arts rotted and melted away without ever unleashing their power.
Not far from that location, in another Demon Lord army garrison, a different kind of hell was unfolding.
Here, a gigantic magic circle was carved into the ground.
It glowed a deep, blackish-red in a constant pulse, seemingly fed by mana from massive, crystal-like items arranged in precise order around it.
In terms of size, it was probably as large as a city square in any nation.
The equipment and formulas were entirely alien to this world, yet the dense scent of death drifting from it made it abundantly clear this was no device for any proper purpose.
The monstrous forces deployed were all elites. More powerful demons and demon folk crowded here than at the previous defensive point, making it immediately obvious this was a vital facility for the Demon Lord's army.
This location had descended into an even stranger state of affairs than the defensive post previously annihilated by plague.
"…………"
"…………"
"…………"
"…………"
"…………"
"…………"
Silence.
Every manner of monster and demonkin stood mute in that place, blank-eyed, staring vacantly at what lay before them.
"Ahahahaha!! Ahaha! AHAHAHAHA!!!"
Dancing in circles among them, a lone girl pranced about.
It was Mearia Elful, a dark elf with a baffling magic circle inscribed over one eye. Once defined by an expression that betrayed no thought, her gaze now held a palpable madness as she laughed and twirled without pause.
In this place dominated by stillness and silence, the girl stood out like a flame lit in a pitch-black night, yet even upon noticing her, the monsters made no attempt to take action.
The girl spun and danced, seemingly delighted.
One pair of eyes fixed upon her.
Ordo Mechanic, the Earth Sovereign who commanded countless mechanical weapons and oversaw the Demon Lord army's construction corps, glared at her with eyes full of loathing.
=Message===
Ordo Mechanic has forgotten how to attack!
---
What had happened— even that, he could no longer comprehend.
The construction of the magic square was proceeding smoothly.
Completion of the facility already stood at ninety percent; with just an activation test remaining, it could be brought into operational readiness at any time.
Satisfied with this fact, the moment I issued instructions to the Rock Knights under my command occurred.
Just moments before, the monsters who had been busily working froze in unison, beginning to stare blankly as though they had forgotten what they were doing.
"The world hates us! It hates us so much!"
The girl appeared then.
One could understand she was not a fellow. One could understand she was an existence to be eliminated.
That our Demon Lord's army operated without any wartime laws and that no one would censure however we killed an enemy was, of course, common knowledge.
Yet... for the life of me, I could not recall the method.
(A possibility of attack exists. Defense is required. But... I cannot discern the nature of the attack!)
Naturally, as one holding the position of Ord Mechanic, I possessed considerable resistance to various forms of mental magic.
Basic magics such as sleep and confusion, as well as specialized ones like illusions and rage—I was fully defended against all of them.
But this ongoing attack could not be described as any of those.
I did not understand the enemy's assault.
But I could not simply remain standing there in a daze.
Because...
"The world hates us, so that's why we need love!"
*Chomp.* The girl opened her small mouth wide and made a gesture of chewing something.
In an instant... the monster standing near her had its upper body torn away into empty space and vanished.
As though offering up nourishment, the monsters were disappearing into the girl's stomach.
"We're alive! Eat, eat, eat, and live on through those we love!"
The number of monsters kept dwindling. Ord Mechanic desperately tried to find a way to stop her, but his memories seemed flawed—he couldn't recall how. He couldn't run. Asking for help wouldn't be... enough time, would it? His subordinate monsters and demonfolk were unreliable. He had to handle this himself. But... that method was already lost.
"I can hear it! Everyone is whispering to me! Every scrap of flesh! Every drop of blood! They whisper to me, 'Live!' Everyone is inside me! Mother is inside me! I'm not lonely anymore! I'm not scared anymore!"
Chomp. Another one of his demonfolk subordinates vanished into the void.
"Thank you, everyone! Thank you, Mother! I'm so happy! I'm so incredibly happy!"
Chomp. As if picking at a sweet, the monster lost only its head.
"It's shining! The world is this cruel, which is why love exists!"
All emotions are born only when their existence is acknowledged. They have no form, and concepts arise when wise beings define the movements of the mind. But what did the contradiction in the heart of a girl who proclaimed love's existence while spreading oblivion mean? Ord Mechanic, who had already been robbed of clear thought, had no room to consider such things. All thought was being stripped from him. But what if thought wasn't necessary to exterminate the enemy? What if that method happened to exist within Ord Mechanic?
(Emergency situation. —No choice. Switching Clockwork Armor to auto-combat mode.)
With a small click, a change came over Ord Mechanic. The Earth's Four Heavenly Kings, Ord Mechanic, was a form combining the small, frail body of an old man with machinery that spewed steam.
This mechanical contraption, almost an exoskeleton, had magical machinery built within it. Once settings were configured, it could automatically attack enemies. This fighting style—using support and healing magic himself while letting the automaton armor handle offense—was Ord Mechanic's ultimate tactic. Even if Ord Mechanic himself couldn't move, the automaton armor, with its overflowing physical strength, would easily eliminate the girl before him.
The setting change wasn't an attack. Without knowing what would happen, the automaton armor's massive arms, emitting a grating whirring sound, lunged at the girl.
"No," she said.
=Message===
The automaton armor forgot its function.
―――
But Ord Mechanic's expectations crumbled. The automaton armor clattered apart and vanished, as if it had forgotten its own existence. Only now did Ord Mechanic understand for the first time that the girl's invisible attack affected things other than living beings.
(Danger extreme. I must stop her here, even if it means sacrificing my life. My Demon Lord, please forgive me—magic circle, dest—)
"No," she repeated.
=Message===
The magic circle forgot its function.
―――
The magic circle, which had been about to cause a magical overload and trigger a colossal explosion, forgot how to do so. It ended without any explanation or warning.
All the strategies Ord Mechanic had created with his remaining thoughts were neutralized by the girl's single word. It was a far too anticlimactic conclusion.
It is unclear what purpose that magic circle served. The girl never knew from the start, and Ord Mechanic has long since forgotten the matter.
But no amount of thinking on such things would change anything.
Because the magic circle has already forgotten its own role and ceased its function.
The girl's eyes met his.
"Do you... believe in love? Love is real, you know?"
=Message===
Ord Mechanic has forgotten Strength
―――
=Message===
Ord Mechanic has forgotten Speed
―――
=Message===
Ord Mechanic has forgotten Courage
―――
In that instant, an immense emptiness seized Ord Mechanic's heart.
His spirit was being devoured, flaking away into nothing.
He had already forgotten not only how to fight, but how to flee.
All Ord Mechanic could do now was endlessly express the emotions he permitted himself.
"H-hh!..."
The man, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, had been called inorganic and devoid of emotion, like the many mechanical weapons he created. The first emotion he ever displayed was terror.
A pitiful voice escaped as his knees buckled and trembled. He looked nothing like the Earthly Four Heavenly King who had once plunged the world into terror and annihilated numerous humans and their nations. Seeing him in such a state, the girl’s eyes lit up.
"Scared? Are you scared? Hey, are you scared? Ahahaha! You are scared! You’re terrified!!" The girl rushed forward, grabbed his head with both hands, and stared into his pupils. It was as if she were savoring every last drop of the fear he held, and that sight was more terrifying than anything. Finally, Ord Mechanic cast aside all remaining pride and let out a pathetic scream.
"U-uaaaahh!! Demon Lord! Please help me, Demon Lord!" No, his pride had already been lost from within him.
"It’s okay. If you were scared, just forget about it."
==Message===
Ord Mechanic forgot his fear.
―――
==Message===
Ord Mechanic forgot the existence of the Demon Lord.
―――
==Message===
Ord Mechanic forgot what he was.
―――
He twitched once, convulsed for a moment, then stood utterly vacant and paralyzed.
Those eyes looked just like those of his subordinates, now reduced to half their number—as if he had completely forgotten his own existence.
The girl—Mearia—gazed at Ord Mechanic with a kind of tender compassion in her eyes.
"Forget. Forget everything. The painful things, the happy things, the world, all of it... I will erase it all for you."
"Huh, um... huh? Eh?"
"That way, only love will remain."
There was nothing left in Ord Mechanic.
If spirituality made up a person, then his had been utterly lost.
All that remained here was the husk.
Yet, strangely, his heart was filled with a warm feeling.
Perhaps that was the one thing that had been remembered—love.
But, knowing nothing of this...
One of the Four Heavenly Kings, Ord Mechanic, had forgotten that he was even alive.
=Eterpedia===
[Witch of Regret, Mearia=Elful]Combat Unit
Combat Power: 25 Movement: 2
"Devour""Idiotic Infection"
"Wicked""Hero (Fake)""Brave (Fake)""Fanaticism"
※Madness and combat ability increase under moonlight.
On a full moon, her power reaches its peak.
The moon shone beautifully in the sky.
◇ ◇ ◇
The monsters of Brave Questus had already lost all semblance of order and were in the midst of a total collapse.
This was, of course, inevitable. The Four Heavenly Kings who had rallied them, along with the superior demon species who served as their companions, had all been utterly annihilated.
All that remained were hordes of monsters acting purely on instinct, without direction or purpose.
Once things reached this point, they were no different from slightly stronger wild beasts.
But of course, one final individual remained.
This was the ultimate destination they had arrived at, after killing everything that stood in their way, driven by their objective and by the whims of their emotions.
Beneath the moon hanging in the night sky, the two finally stood face to face.
The moon shone beautifully.