"What... Demons fighting among themselves?"
The Inquisitor was the first to spot someone charging straight at the demon. She was bewildered. He was a traitor. A betrayer who had contracted with a demon and turned his back on the gods.
"Why would a traitor...."
Those who contracted with demons became little more than their servants. They weren't controlled by low-intelligence lesser demons, but they could no longer oppose them either.
Yet this man was diving in without hesitation? Even ignoring his body being torn apart to relentlessly hunt down the demon's true form?
This was impossible. This sort of thing...
"No... No, Inquisitor. That man is not a demon contractor."
He didn't fit anything she had learned.
"Pardon?"
"…I never imagined I'd witness that possibility I had only suspected. Demonic Energy turning into mana... Hmm, what this will bring about in the future...."
The Inquisitor gripped her mace tightly at the Archmage's mutterings and grave expression. She figured the Archmage must know something.
"Please explain in more detail, Archmage."
"…Ah, yes. It's a hypothesis that only exists in theory even in the Academy, so you wouldn't know of it, Inquisitor."
The Archmage stroked his thick fingers along his staff as he answered her.
"That young man... He probably didn't gain that power by contracting with a demon. He became a host for the demon and learned to wield its power."
"A host... You mean he's become a zombie?"
She knew about zombies. They were people whose bodies were taken over by demons, no longer able to move of their own will.
They were mere puppets controlled by the parasitic demons—living corpses in the truest sense. Only death brought them peace.
"Exactly. But while ordinary zombies lose their sense of self to the parasitic demon, that young man seems to have suppressed the demon and taken control himself."
"What! That's impossible!"
"What's impossible about it? Inquisitor, there are no impossibilities in this world. There are only things we deem impossible."
The Archmage gave a faint smile as he looked at her crying out in desperation. It was an ambiguous smile, almost like he was on the verge of tears himself.
"If not, then what should we call the young man right in front of us?"
At that moment, the man finally located the demon's true form and sliced the serpent apart. It was the moment a demon's power slew another demon.
* * *
"Then I'll tear that mouth of yours apart, just as promised."
I delivered the line, fully immersed in my concept with genuine glee.
"Wait, there seems to have been a misunderstanding. I apologize for attacking you, so please, hear me out?"
The mage hurriedly tried to stop me. Now that I looked closely, he was quite the burly fellow.
"A misunderstanding? That's an amusing thing to say. You treated me the same as those filthy vermin and charged at me—is that the misunderstanding?"
He was enormously tall. When I faced him straight on, my gaze only reached his collarbone, so he had to be at least two meters.
Or maybe a different race. Hero Legend had four races: Midle, Sland, Cuerty, and Shagi.
And the Shagi race—bipedal beasts bordering on full beastmen—averaged builds like that.
"Please forgive me. Your arm is entwined with Demonic Energy, so I mistook you for a zombie parasitized by a demon. As a demon hunter, you must know... It's quite unprecedented for a zombified person to retain their sense of self."
Oh... How should I react to this? Story-wise, it seems like they're trying to cover for me, so I can keep raging a bit longer.
After that calculation, I clenched my fist with a crunch. I twisted my face horribly, hoping it looked like a mix of anger, understanding, and self-loathing.
"What...?"
More importantly, I couldn't recall the zombie lore. What was it again? It was different from regular zombies, I thought.
Judging from the 'zombie parasitized by a demon' line, it was something like a host...? That felt right?
In any case, for someone with a complex, it wasn't a line that would feel good to hear. It'd make you feel truly inhuman.
"If I'd known you were maintaining your sense of self like a normal person, I wouldn't have attacked. I apologize."
Crunch.
I let the sword slung over my shoulder drop down and gripped the hilt hard. At the same time, I touched the eyepatch over my right eye and the hair falling over my forehead with my right hand.
Immersed in the concept, those things suddenly felt hateful, unclean, and horrific for no reason.
And just as much, I grew to hate these fools who had misunderstood me. Not truly, of course, but it felt that way.
In reality, I understood their side, and since they were just NPCs, it didn't faze me much. But at least the concept I was embodying wouldn't feel that way.
"Ha, a zombie...."
Sometimes, while acting, my voice would deliver lines on its own, and my body would move without thought.
Like the concept had slipped from my control and was acting independently. This seemed to be one of those times.
"How dare... You lot treat me like that."
As such, I immersed myself even deeper and raised my sword.
Of course, since I was holding it one-handed, it trembled a bit from the weight. I hoped others would see it as trembling from rage.
"…It was clearly our mistake. If there's anything you desire, we'll grant it if we can."
Ah, not the right timing, but damn, this is fun. Having an opponent—NPC—who reacts and plays along makes it even more enjoyable.
It felt like syncing up with my college buddies.
"Damn it. Grant it if you can? What if I asked for your tongues cut out?"
"That would be...."
"If you can't even do that, spare me your pathetic apology."
What other games should I play now? No, why think of other games? Hero Legend and Deep Sea Pearl are masterpieces.
Still, if they patched the movement system and user convenience...
"…Part of me wants to rip your jaws out and hang them at the village gate, but that would make me no different from those demon bastards."
"…Hmm."
"Get lost."
Anyway, I pretended to swallow the rage I'd spat out in excitement. I sheathed my sword.
'Is backing off like this the right call?'
I questioned my judgment for a moment but quickly arrived at an answer.
Even without obsessing over the story, this was correct. He'd hate demons, but he wouldn't want to act like one.
Honestly, yeah. In the official Demon Knight lore, the sensitive and sharp temperament comes from the anxiety of not knowing when the demon in his arm might rampage.
In other words, since he didn't know when he'd turn demonic again and kill people, he kept everyone at bay with ferocity from the start.
Would someone like that, after one misunderstanding, get genuinely furious enough for a deathmatch? Against a human, no less, when he wasn't even a demon?
He'd be pissed, sure, but since it was a misunderstanding, he wouldn't insist on killing them. Killing humans was demon work, and that mindset would be ingrained.
That's my interpretation.
"...."
I slung my sword on my back and turned away. The quest included recovering proof of the hunt, so I needed to grab that.
"Wait."
I bent down to collect the serpent's corpse. Then came the voice of the priest... er, the Inquisitor.
"…I apologize as well."
I'd thought she might complain about me taking the corpse, but it was an apology, so I was a bit surprised.
"I... No, anything I say would just sound like an excuse. I'm sorry for attacking first. I sincerely apologize."
Uh... Truth is, I hadn't even cared. But lore-wise, it was understandable to misunderstand.
If anything, it was impressive I hadn't clashed with the temple yet. Later, an oracle would come down, so even if I wanted to clash, I couldn't.
"If you want compensation for this...."
Separately, the concept disagreed with my opinion.
"I don't need it, you hypocrites."
So I had to follow it.
"...!"
And yet, the game handles the player being this uncooperative and still pushes the story forward—impressive.
Of course, the original goal was probably cooperation leading to becoming allies...
Hmm. That's a bit iffy. After fighting like this, becoming companions easily feels off. I'm not even sure a companion system exists.
Above all, it'd be too sudden and out of nowhere. I'm an enjoyer who loves it, but normal players hate unforeshadowed joins like this.
"It's not hypocrisy─."
"Now, now, Inquisitor. Please calm down."
"Archmage...!"
Oh yeah, didn't I level up while catching that serpent? Gotta decide on a skill.
Attack skills are decent, scouting wasn't bad from this incident. Or maybe invest in close-combat tree for buffs, or boost defense.
"More importantly, we should head back too. We didn't leave because we failed to catch the demon—we've already completed the purification, haven't we?"
Oh right, purification.
"…Understood."
I glanced at the purification progress window: 98%. As per the overheard conversation, those two must have been purifying as they went.
Kinda jealous. Demon Knights can only purify by setting things on fire.
It was a penalty for Demon Knights. Granted, it made them immune to Demonic Corruption, but popularity was still low.
Priest classes have purification skills, others buy purification stones from temples, but Demon Knights couldn't use them at all.
"...."
"...."
…So can someone explain why those two are following me?
"You've worked hard for a week—must be disappointing."
"…Not at all. It was merely our duty as servants of the gods."
Why are they really following? I'm taking the straight-line path to the village with full map, but NPCs couldn't know that.
Relations are awkward—wouldn't it be better to take another route? Ah... Is it the story?
"I told you to get lost."
Just in case, I tried threatening them. NPCs needed realistic reactions.
"Guess my words don't sound like words to you."
I gripped the sword hilt at my waist and twisted my body slightly. I almost turned right unconsciously, but remembered the eyepatch in time.
Nearly became the weirdo turning with the eyepatched eye.
"If we offended you, I apologize. It wasn't intentional."
The two who turned had orbs of light floating around them. I'd wondered why they hadn't used them earlier, but I was the same, so no big deal.
What stood out, though, was something like a compass floating alongside the light orbs...
"We're following a pathfinding spell. Looks like we two marked the same spot."
Navigation as magic, huh. Suddenly felt like the self-conscious guy.
"...."
At least it was a relief they weren't following me specifically. If paths overlapped on the straight route, I could just veer off.
No business left in that village anyway, and no desire to take another carriage. No reason not to part ways. If the system allowed it.
So I grimaced and changed direction. It had taken hours by carriage to get here, so hustling back to the starting village would take effort.
"Wait, where are you going?"
The Inquisitor asked about my path. Feeling no need to reply, I didn't.
"Hey, the Night Forest is dangerous...."
But I couldn't stomach words pricking my pride.
"Maybe for trash like you. Don't shove your standards on me."
"…Still, going alone isn't wise."
No, if you asked the most dangerous thing in this forest, it'd be you folks—so going solo is safer.
Of course, saying that outright would break character, so I snarled fiercely.
"Guess your ears aren't for hearing."
Fortunately, the Inquisitor didn't try to stop me even after that.
No idea what event this was or what the story wanted, but in the clash between system and concept play, concept play won by decision. Ahaha.