It was over in an instant.
The change came from the words muttered by Takuto Ira, whom all believed had no room left to resist. Only a handful noticed.
To respond at all was nothing short of a miracle.
Countless factors tangled in complex ways, tilting the scales by a minuscule amount imperceptible to awareness.
Victory went to Erakino and the others.
"Master!!"
=GM: Message===
Exercising Game Master authority.
Judgment result denied. The witch Atou's <Brainwashing> state persists.
---
Erakino screamed as her master, seated in the distant beyond, delivered her ruling.
Then... silence fell, broken only by ragged breathing.
"Hah! Hah... Hah!!"
Cold sweat beaded on Erakino's forehead, her eyes wide with shock and terror.
Her heartbeat raced to a laughable speed, her limbs trembling slightly.
"Damn it! Hah, hah... Damn it!!"
She made no attempt to hide her irritation and fury, even forgetting her previously flippant demeanor...
But that was only natural.
—Because mere millimeters before her eyes, the tentacle Atou had launched to cleave her skull had stopped.
A narrow escape from death.
One more step and her Master's declaration would have come too late.
Mental exhaustion flooded over her, a lassitude enveloping her entire body as if she'd just pushed herself to the limit.
She would admit she had underestimated her opponent.
It was true she'd let her guard down, believing the contest was already decided.
But she never imagined their rules had already been seen through and exploited for such an opening.
"Just like that—! Skipping over dice rolls with fixed-value brute force, breaking a brainwashing?!"
"Erakino!"
"Are—are you alright?!"
The two Holy Maidens hurried to confirm her safety a moment later.
Erakino, unable even to respond to the concern of those she trusted, whirled her mind into motion without composure.
The King of Ruin had seen through the very system they had judged absolutely impossible to perceive.
The words spoken by Erakino and the others were not many.
She recalled nothing particularly damning, and she hadn't been foolish enough to utter any critical terminology, not even to her fellow Holy Maidens.
And yet, even so...
In that brief moment, he had deduced the nature of her abilities as a T-RPG from her words and actions, and struck back with a winning move.
—T-RPG.
Known as a Tabletop Role-Playing Game, it was a game where participants advanced a pre-determined scenario while acting out their respective roles.
A distinctive feature was that it was played using the participants' own words and dice, the latter introduced as a random element.
It was a long-beloved pastime with a dedicated following.
In a T-RPG, each Player advanced the scenario under the direction of a facilitator called the Game Master.
Given its nature of constructing the game world through words, where player-to-player communication is vital, the Game Master in this game holds absolute authority.
Therefore, Erakino and his master could use that authority to steer the combat in a manner that could be called unilateral.
However, a TRPG is a game where participants weave a story through words.
This simultaneously means that players also hold the right to request judgment based on system rules.
What Takuto Ira did was exactly that.
By making a declaration directly to the system, he forcibly requested a check to break the brainwashing.
Normally, between such a request and its resolution, there would be the Game Master's instruction and a success determination based on the dice roll.
However, the King of Ruin and his witch retainer trusted each other so deeply that they skipped the need for even a dice ruling.
[Roll a 1d100 and score 98 or higher.]
Let this be the condition for breaking the brainwashing.
For Takuto Ira and Atou, the following clause would be added:
[However, add the numerical value of Takuto Ira and Atou's "Trust Value" divided by 2: 200, to the result.]
This was what was whispered about in certain circles as the so-called "violence of fixed values."
――Judging that the use of the word "dice" indicated the opponent belonged to a TRPG faction.
Furthermore, from his experience examining the "Eternal Nations" system, he deduced that the Game Master's declaration and the TRPG system were separate entities and that intervention was possible, thus applying for a ruling from the system.
He forcefully broke the brainwashing with a fixed value, reclaiming Atou's allegiance to himself.
And Atou, once freed, needed no telling to unleash his brutal attack to kill Erakino.
A desperate, all-or-nothing blow thrown without surrender even on the brink of death. Aimed at the witch's skull.
This was Takuto's countermeasure.
The Game Master can only perceive the world through the characters.
Though she certainly possessed the authority to overlook the world, this was not a game world she had created, so that power did not extend here.
In other words, had Erakino been lost here, the means to intervene in Mynoghra would have been severed.
That would mean the failure of their raid plan, and giving the enemy time to establish countermeasures with their information.
But, but still. Fortune smiled upon her and her Master.
In a split-second exchange of blows, Erakino and the Game Master noticed that Takuto's de-brainwashing had occurred and, at the very last moment, succeeded in injecting a ruling of rejection.
Thus, Takuto's tentacle stopped just millimeters from Erakino's crown, and the sipping witch, whose heart had raced with superiority and elation, was left pale-faced by a miraculous brush with death.
That was the rough outline of the dense exchange that had transpired mere seconds ago.
Erakino gritted her teeth.
A sharp, hard sound escaped her mouth, tinting the young girl's expression with fury.
She had no way of knowing how much of their hand had been exposed.
She could not judge how much the King of Ruin had known.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps he had known everything and acted accordingly—targeting the weakness she possessed.
(Master! What should I do!? Give me instructions! Instructions, please, Game Master!!)
There was no response from her liege.
Was he also shaken by the sudden turn of events, or was he contemplating the next move?
Either way, giving the opponent more time would be unwise.
She turned her gaze toward the very existence that had chilled her to the bone.
A king so defeated it was unclear if he was even alive anymore.
His hollow eyes, devoid of light, stared fixedly at her.
She had the inexplicable illusion that, beyond those eyes, an eternal darkness—one even she could not comprehend—was undulating.
"How pitiful! How pitiful! Ahahaha! So unfortunate! You thought you did well, didn't you? But it wasn't enough for Erakino and the others~ ♪ Too bad~ ♪ Hahahahaha! —Haah! Hah!!"
Erakino took a step back, laughing dryly, her breaths coming in ragged gasps. Only then did she realize she was trembling with fear.
"You—damn it!!!"
"Your Majesty!"
Her outburst of rage took the form of raw violence. Erakino, who had not launched a direct attack until now, kicked Takuto as he lay in the blood pool, as if trying to expel every conflicting emotion within her.
A resounding crash of shattering echoed as the body that the Dark Elves and the beings of darkness worshipped was sent flying. It slammed into the temporary platform erected nearby and came to a halt. Collapsing timber rattled as it fell, clattering down in a way that seemed to pin Takuto's body, bleeding profusely from his chest, beneath the debris.
"Erakino, compose yourself. Losing your composure will only invite further trouble. What does your Master say?"
"Ahhhh! Enough! He isn't responding! Master, what should I do?!"
Erakino stamped her feet, screaming hysterically. Without a word, the Holy Maiden Fenne, her face hidden, turned her gaze toward her. Meanwhile, the Flower Burial Holy Maiden, Soarina, leaned close to her friend, her expression radiating genuine concern, and raised her staff.
"Erakino, it's alright. I was indeed surprised by that attack just now. However, this ends here…"
—By cremation.
At those words, a hellfire that could reach the sky erupted from the spot where Takuto had been kicked. Twisting and spiraling upward, it blasted scorching wind everywhere, raging as if it sought to turn everything within to ash.
"O, Your Majesty! Someone, stop that fire! Someone!"
"I-It's impossible! The flames are too fierce—Mortar, stay back!"
The Dark Elves cried out in anguish, but they were powerless before the Holy Maiden's flames.
That force repelled all things, making it difficult not just to touch, but even to approach. Within that inferno, no manner of being could survive. This was obvious to anyone who looked, and it brought a sliver of relief to Erakino, caught in the maelstrom of confusion and agitation. The fact that her friend had come to her aid was, above all else, what steadied her heart.
Even after the Saint had finished performing her miracle, the flames continued to burn with undiminished fury. Gazing at the crackling blaze, Erakino was finally able to confirm that this battle was over.
"Erakino. The enemy monsters are gathering. We should consider withdrawing soon."
A brief moment of hesitation arose. The remaining monsters were no threat to them. Part of her wanted to annihilate them all right here, but since she didn't know the extent of the enemy's remaining numbers, she didn't want to waste time. She had no interest in lingering to deal with enemy stragglers indefinitely.
Besides, the objective was achieved. With the goal met, they should return as planned. For the nation they envisioned, there was still so much to be done; they had no time to spare on unnecessary delays.
"...Soarina?"
"...Yes, I'm fine. The evil has vanished. Within those flames, no living being remains."
"Fenne?"
"Yes, indeed. There is no life in that place. The Lord of Ruin has certainly been annihilated by the purifying flames."
Both Saints declared with certainty. If their supernatural perceptions confirmed the annihilation, then it was, without a doubt, an undeniable fact.
Just then, a message arrived from her Master. It was only then that Erakino finally regained her usual composure.
"Okay~♪ Got a message from the Master, too! That means there's no more business for us here! Time to hop away like a croaking frog~♪ So, see ya later, everyone from Mynoghra! It was Sucking Witch, Erakino, signing off~♪"
Erakino's Group Escape Check—
=GM: Message===
Exercising Game Master privileges.
Waiving dice roll, declaring guaranteed success.
Result: Erakino, Soarina, Fenne, Atou successfully escape.
---
And... By a law that none present could ever comprehend, Erakino's group's raid reached completion.
That technique which disregards all reason and principle, delivering only the result.
The Dark Elves could only stand frozen on the spot.
...
...
...
Compared to that moment of violent upheaval, only a painfully sluggish and chillingly cold air now dominated Dragontan.
"It's... it's over."
In the square bathed in the crimson light of the setting sun, a single broken old man remained.
This was the end for one once called the Curse Sage, leaving behind great deeds, now a key figure in Mynoghra's government, involved at the heart of the state.
"It's all... everything is over."
Though the longest-lived among the Dark Elves, the imposing presence that belied his age had now vanished. He stood tottering, a wretched sight who might crumble at any moment.
Tears dried up, no words or thoughts came to mind.
Mortar, dazed at how aged he had become, merely sank to his knees in that spot, as if clinging to what had been lost.
The place where everything had burned to ash and cinder was precisely where their king had fallen.
"My king, why did you leave us behind? Why couldn't you take us with you...?"
That Elder Mortar could even direct the cleanup was near miraculous.
The area was now cordoned off, and the residents were under orders to remain in their homes. The guests from Fonkavun were confined to a room in city hall, half under house arrest—a reflection of the utter lack of courtesy afforded to an allied nation.
The death of the Demon Lord of Ruin, Takuto Ira, and the brainwashed defection of the hero, Atou.
Everyone aware of these recent events was under strict gag order and maintained absolute silence. Not a single person spoke a word out of turn.
The Dark Elves and Mynoghra's subordinates, having lost their leader, were in disarray and unable to take any effective military action. They were stretched to their limit just trying to regain control and establish a security posture; they couldn't even judge what to do next, let alone what they *should* do.
"My king, please, guide us..."
The lord who should have made that judgment was lost forever.
The flames unleashed by one of the attackers—a woman thought to be a saint—were truly a work of divine wrath. Even within that inferno that aimed to consume all, not even the Demon Lord of Ruin, Takuto Ira, could have survived.
No—before that, his heart had already been pierced.
No matter how powerful an existence, death comes when it comes.
Whether true death existed for a being like the Demon Lord of Ruin was unclear, but at the very least, Mortar had not fallen so low as to indulge in optimistic thoughts like "he might be alright."
"We must find his remains..."
With faltering steps, he staggered toward the place where the king had burned. The timber was completely carbonized, and the once-abundant rubble had been greatly reduced in mass by the fire. The extinguishing work was over, and with the wretchedness utterly unbefitting a man once feared as the Cursed Sage, he began to sift through the mountain of ashes that now only emitted a faint warmth.
In truth, the search for the king's remains had already been conducted.
But the condition of the site was too terrible, and daylight was fading, so they had been unable to locate anything with any certainty.
Everyone who saw the state of the place despaired of the king's survival.
The king's body was believed to have been incinerated by the enemy holy woman's inferno, completely destroyed.
That was the judgment the Dark Elves had reached in bitter anguish.
Old Mortar's actions were nothing more than a desperate attempt to cling to a lost past.
"…No, something is wrong."
After searching the mounds of ash for a time, Mortar muttered softly.
A spark of the wisdom that had been lost returned to his eyes, and he began to push aside the debris around him with hurried, searching gestures.
"It's not here! Not here! Not anywhere—"
He tore through the surroundings with his hands, turning everything over haphazardly.
He even threw away the torch he held because the day had grown dark, and he searched the entire area as if he had gone mad.
"How can this be? It's impossible! The king's belongings are gone!"
Regarding the point of the king's body having vanished, one could perhaps provide some explanation.
That inferno. As judged earlier, it was not unreasonable that the flesh would be completely incinerated beyond recognition.
Furthermore, the king's existence belonged to the realm of the divine, an inhuman principle known as the King of Ruin.
He was not made of blood and flesh like a human; perhaps upon death, he had dissolved into mist and vanished.
But it was strange.
The clothes and ornaments Takuto Ira wore had all been crafted and offered by them, the Dark Elves.
Among them, even though only in small amounts, there should have been some metal decorations and parts.
It would be strange if the remaining remnants could not be found.
Old Mortar dug frantically through the spot where Takuto had apparently been burned to nothing.
The search had already concluded, and many Dark Elves had investigated this place—there was clearly nothing left.
Yet as though desperately seeking an answer to the question welling up inside him, he searched with frantic intensity.
"The king is alive."
What reasoning had led him to that judgment?
A moment's calm thought would make it clear that such a conclusion was utterly impossible.
With this scale of devastation and wreckage, it was entirely plausible that Takuto's remains had simply gone unnoticed by their eyes. One could even say the flames had been fierce enough to leave not a trace of ornaments or relics.
Rather, that would be the more sensible judgment—and the correct course of action would have been to resume the search not at midnight but at dawn.
"The king is alive!"
The eyes of the man shouting lacked something of sanity.
At this moment, old Mortar had begun to go quietly mad.
It was the wretched end of an aged sage who could no longer look reality in the face.
"Of course! The king would never die from something like this! Our revered King of Ruin! The being who will bring an end to this world! He could never perish from something as trivial as this!"
The ramblings of an old man.
No one could believe them—they were nothing more than delusions too divorced from reality to be called anything else.
An impossible wish, devoid of all logic, backed by not a shred of evidence.
Takuto Ira had indeed been destroyed.
That was the unshakeable conclusion drawn by every person who had witnessed the preceding events.
But was it truly so?
"The king, our king Takuto Ira, is undeniably alive—"
Suddenly, a hand lightly settled on his shoulder.
"—Correct."
The Demon Lord of Ruin, Takuto Ira, whispered from behind in a voice so chilling to the bone it defied description.
"O-Oh!"
He hurriedly turned around, staring intently at the figure before him.
It was no dream, nor any illusion.
The king he and they had believed in stood there, unchanged in every way.
It was a moment beyond the trite word of "miracle"—the absolute conclusion he had believed in, was simply there.
"The great Demon Lord of Ruin, Takuto Ira!"
"It's a fine night, old Mortar."
Both heart and body reacted in unison, sending old Mortar prostrating to the ground.
He crumpled his face in a flood of tears, overcome with pure joy that the king was safe.
Mynoghra and its Demon Lord of Ruin, Takuto Ira, remained unvanquished.
"Oh! How desperately I prayed for your safe return!"
From relief and shock, excitement and emotion, his voice rose unbidden. At the sight, Takuto Ira gave a faint, wry smile and quietly pressed a fingertip to his lips.
The king was well.
Even with a heart pierced, even consumed by divine flames, he remained undying.
Everyone had filled their minds with the word "death," and had despaired at the sight of his heart pierced and burned away.
But the man standing here now appeared as though those wounds had never existed. No, there were no wounds to be found at all.
What divine miracle could have wrought such a thing?
Such speculation was ultimately pointless.
For an aged sorcerer of a petty Dark Elf's stature could never hope to comprehend the true depth of that abyssal power.
It was already deep into the night. The surroundings were sealed in darkness, with only the meager glow of a few lit bonfires faintly illuminating the area.
Amidst the confusion and tragedy, a silence pervaded the entire city, as if it were draped in mourning.
Mortar prostrated himself quietly, awaiting the king's command.
His role was to act as his king's hands and feet; from here on, all would be orchestrated by Takuto Ira.
What followed would be a relentless saga of vengeance.
As one of its actors, the elder Mortar intended to bring down the hammer of his fury upon those foolish attackers with his entire being.
The elder Mortar turned his gaze toward his king.
That darkness, deeper than the earth's abyss, as if it had come from a place separate and removed from here, showed but a sliver of contemplative stillness.
"There is much to be done, it seems."
The King of Ruin... no, Takuto Ira murmured to himself.
The incarnation of the end that would surely come simply stood there, quiet and serene.