Yamada-kun and the others had fled into the hideout prepared by the Third Prince.
Well, calling it a hideout was generous—on our end it was completely transparent, so it wasn't hiding them at all.
The plan was to launch a raid on that hideout next.
The one commanding that assault unit was Oshima-kun.
Oshima-kun had always supported Yamada-kun from close by since their previous lives. How would Yamada-kun react when Oshima-kun was brainwashed and turned traitor?
It's not like I came up with this cruel little setup just to torment Yamada-kun.
Natsume-kun would absolutely do something like this on his own, but at the very least, I'm not that far gone.
Not even close.
The reason for pitting Oshima-kun against Yamada-kun was to test the effects of Yamada-kun's mysterious Skill—Divine Protection.
Divine Protection.
It was Yamada-kun's unique Skill, as reported from interrogating both the brainwashed Oshima-kun and Hasebe-san.
Apparently, Yamada-kun had been pretty open about his unique Skill with fellow reincarnators, hiding nothing.
So we'd confirmed its existence without any effort.
Its effect, supposedly, was to make it easier to obtain one's desired outcome in any situation.
Unique Skills from reincarnation bonuses tend to be unusual, but this one stood out even among those.
Hearing just the effect, you'd think, "What the hell, a cheat ability?"
In the extreme, it was a wishful-thinking Skill that made whatever Yamada-kun wanted to happen actually happen.
Well, it only made favorable outcomes *more likely*—it didn't seem like it guaranteed the desired result.
If it actually guaranteed your wishes, it would surpass some kind of Dragon Balls where you collect seven and your wish comes true.
That'd be the cheat of all cheats.
Needs a nerf.
Patch it quick.
So Yamada-kun had this absurdly convenient Skill.
And on top of that, Yamada-kun had one more conveniently biased ability.
That was the Title: Hero.
The Hero Title came with several hidden abilities designed to keep humans and demons fighting in balance.
When the reigning Demon King was too powerful and the balance tipped, the Title would trigger a power-up for the protagonist like they were backed into a corner.
"I can't lose here! RAAAAAGH!"
"Impossible! Where is that power coming from!?"
"This is the power of the Hero—power to save the world!"
That clichéd scenario could actually play out in real life, apparently.
Well, the Demon King was typically chosen from the Demon race, and demons were longer-lived than humans with naturally higher Status, so the Demon King tended to end up stronger than the Hero. This was the counterbalance for that.
But being on the receiving end of that as the Demon King would be beyond frustrating.
The current Demon King was too strong, so this particular situation applied.
If the Demon King clashed with Yamada-kun, Yamada-kun's super power-up would absolutely trigger.
The convenience-biased Skill, plus the convenience-biased Title.
Yamada-kun possessed both elements that could invoke these absurd conveniences.
His own ability wasn't all that impressive.
And yet, he could become an unpredictable variable.
That was why I needed to test how far Yamada-kun's convenient biases would go.
Oshima-kun, with whom Yamada-kun shared deep connections from both his past and present lives, was standing in his way. Yamada-kun would surely wish to break Oshima-kun free from the brainwashing.
How would that turn out?
That would let me measure how far Yamada-kun's convenient biases could reach.
Could he break free from the brainwashing administered by the broken Skill set—the Seven Deadly Sins series?
If he could, that would mean Yamada-kun's Skill was even more troublesome than the Seven Deadly Sins series.
And then, right before my eyes, Yamada-kun and Oshima-kun clashed.
To put the result simply: normies, explode.
I know that probably doesn't make sense, but that is my honest reaction!
"What even was that? They should've just exploded."
Beside me, the vampire kid muttered the same thought.
Yeah. That's exactly how you'd feel.
The outcome exceeded all predictions.
Who the hell could've predicted this?!
Oshima-kun actually broke free from Natsume-kun's brainwashing through sheer willpower!
Even so, he couldn't completely shake off the brainwashing's hold, and ended up self-destructing to stop himself.
What heroic heroine energy!
Willing to sacrifice herself—willing to go all out with a self-destruct—for the sake of the hero!
And it got even more impressive from there.
After Oshima-kun self-destructed, Yamada-kun healed her.
Thanks to the self-destruction destroying her physical form, Oshima-kun completely broke free from Natsume-kun's brainwashing and returned to her senses.
And Yamada-kun scooped up the recovered Oshima-kun in a princess carry as he made his escape.
A princess carry!
A princess carry!
That look on Oshima-kun's face just before she passed out—heart fluttering, absolutely smitten.
She's fallen for him. She's definitely fallen for him.
No matter how you look at it, she's a heroine. You're welcome.
Conclusion.
Is this a romantic comedy?
Ugh, no. Absolutely not.
No, no, no.
Conclusion.
Yamada-kun's Skill is seriously dangerous.
The fact that Oshima-kun broke free from the brainwashing might have been partly due to the strength of her will, but I still don't think it should've been that dramatic.
Yamada-kun's Skill must have had some kind of influence.
Thinking about it that way, Yamada-kun's Skill was more troublesome than the Seven Deadly Sins series.
That said, the Third Prince, who stayed behind as a rear guard to buy time for Yamada-kun's escape, was captured without issue.
If everything went perfectly according to Yamada-kun's wishes, the Third Prince shouldn't have been caught either.
This proved Yamada-kun's Skill had its limits.
Maybe it only worked when he was physically near someone.
Hmm.
The Skill's effects were hard to pin down—it was impossible to tell how much was Yamada-kun's Skill at work.
I'd stay on guard, but countering it might be difficult.
Even so, Yamada-kun's Dominator Skill—Mercy—was blatantly overpowered, wasn't it?
The treatment Yamada-kun administered to Oshima-kun wasn't ordinary healing.
After all, even if only for an instant, Oshima-kun had been dead.
No healing magic could resurrect the dead.
What made it possible was Yamada-kun's Dominator Skill: Mercy.
Its effect: resurrection of the dead.
With that power, Yamada-kun resurrected Oshima-kun, who had died in the self-destruction.
Honestly, when Oshima-kun self-destructed, I panicked.
It looked like a fatal wound, no question.
And sure enough, the prediction came true—Oshima-kun died.
If Yamada-kun had been even a second slower to resurrect her, I would've teleported over immediately.
The moment Oshima-kun self-destructed, I practically shot out of my seat.
Knowing Yamada-kun had Mercy didn't help—panic is panic.
However, this could actually be an opportunity.
The cost of the Mercy Skill was leveling up Taboo.
The system of this world found resurrection of the dead fundamentally unacceptable—Taboo of the highest order.
And beyond the act of resurrection awaited the Taboo of being shown the truth of this system.
Once he learned that, there was no way Yamada-kun wouldn't grasp what resurrection truly meant.
As always, what D does is vicious.
She comes to break your spirit.
But I could use this.
Lure Yamada-kun out, and create a corpse right before his eyes.
Surely, Yamada-kun would perform resurrection.
And his Taboo level would keep climbing.
And when Taboo hit its cap, Yamada-kun would learn the truth behind this world.
At that point, Yamada-kun would be forced to choose.
Oppose us?
Or take our hand?
Pretending he'd seen nothing was also technically an option.
The fate of the world was too heavy a burden for an ordinary person to carry.
If he chose opposition, I'd crush him with everything I had.
But I didn't think Yamada-kun could do that.
After all, he was just an average joe.
Sure, he'd been given the Hero Title, but at heart he was an ordinary boy—someone you'd find anywhere.
That meant he could never bear the weight of the world's fate.
I'd make sure he knew the truth while there was still time, and guide him toward stepping back.
The last stubborn pride of the K2 Man.