"…No way… this can't be real! Why… why do they look this terrifying when they're supposed to be low-tier monsters?!"
A soldier holding a massive shield engraved with a bull emblem looked up at me, his voice filled with confusion written plainly across his face.
At the same time, they immediately formed a defensive formation. The ordinary revolutionary troops created a circle with their large shields, purely to protect the second line. While trembling in fear at the sight of my undead emerging everywhere, I suddenly noticed something.
There were three of them.
They wore outfits far more eye-catching than the rest. One was clad in glamorous, noble-style armor. Another was a mage hiding beneath a distinctive cloak. And there was also Regulus.
Their position was completely behind the front-line soldiers.
They stared at me with naked hatred.
One of them, the man in noble-style armor, suddenly shouted with confidence. His voice even cut through the surrounding chaos. "Do not be afraid, blessed warriors! I have studied everything about what we are facing!"
Right after that, he drew the sword hidden within its sheath and flashed a cynical grin in my direction.
The ordinary soldiers could only gasp and mutter.
"…Huh? What is that?"
"You've got to be kidding… no matter how you look at it… all I see is a death flag coming up real soon!"
"That's right! I haven't even experienced marriage yet!"
"Even if we are the chosen ones, we're still just ordinary humans! Humans are just humans! Nothing more!"
"Exactly, exactly!"
Their reactions were clearly shaken, and each of them automatically began exposing their own personal regrets.
"I am certain. Those are our comrades who fell over the years. noticed Satanos has modified them into horrifying monsters. From any perspective, they are S-rank undead! I can see it. I can feel genuine demonic power radiating from them!" Another man, standing not far from the one in glamorous armor, managed to cut through the noise with a serious tone.
He looked like a high-ranking mage wrapped in a mysterious robe. Judging by his appearance, he was probably the strategist type, focused on analysis and long-range attacks.
Well… magic is just magic.
Nothing more.
"Either way, we must proceed carefully. One wrong move could cost us everything." The one who issued that warning stood beside the mage.
She was a woman completely covered from head to toe. There was barely any gap to glimpse even a hint of feminine allure. Everything was sealed shut. She even wore a hood that concealed part of her face. Her clothing strongly resembled that of a nun.
No. That still wasn't quite right.
In fact, her eyes were covered with cloth. I had no idea whether she could see clearly once the battle began.
One thing was certain. I was absolutely sure she was nothing more than a support role within the group.
At the same time, my creations immediately launched their first attack, without discrimination. All of it was simply to force everyone here to prepare for battle as quickly as possible. Without any further ceremony, the fight began just like that.
In this situation, all I could do was watch from the same seat as before.
I see. So the core cast numbers four now. Each of them has their own role and their own forces.
For context, the woman who went down during the opening was actually the main character I played back then. She came from the Dragon Cross Kingdom, a nation famous for its swordsmanship. Well, despite that, they were also infamous for being the weakest when it came to magic. In other words, they relied heavily on close-combat skills.
That was also the reason it took me so long to clear the game, even though I pushed myself as hard as possible. I went beyond normal human limits, only to die miserably, because the protagonist was genuinely poorly designed by the developers.
And the enemies… were downright absurd.
There were many bosses, but regardless of whether they appeared early or late in the game, every single one of them specialized in long-range combat.
That alone explains why the game was such a time sink. It required clever tricks to clear. It didn't matter whether those tricks followed the natural laws of the game world or not. If the only methods available were unreasonable, then there was no choice but to use them.
Honestly, I have no idea what the developers were thinking. It was ridiculous.
Even more ridiculous was the fact that I kept thinking about it.
Anyway, the other "main characters" were nothing more than ordinary NPCs. I can say that out loud without hesitation. According to the script, the protagonist forms a party by recruiting random people they meet along the way. That's all there is to it.
So I never truly knew the specific strengths and weaknesses of the other characters in detail.
....
"Ckhhh, what the hell is this!? Even after slashing it several times, its body just keeps regenerating without stopping!! Damn it!!"
It seemed the troops I had summoned earlier had pushed the revolutionary soldiers to the very edge of despair.
It was plainly visible. Many were gravely wounded, and several units had already fallen in what they believed to be their version of saving the world.
However, the hero group was a different story.
They were handling the battle remarkably well. The knight in glamorous armor, in particular, was cutting down my creations with astounding precision. He blended magic with classical sword techniques, and the result was… fairly impressive.
"In the name of the Lucifer Family."
Oh. He is introducing himself now?
"I, Leon, the superior heir to the Ragnarok Fragment Sword, will put an end to all of this!" he shouted as he charged forward at high speed, slicing through my forces with ease.
Each of his strikes unleashed destruction far beyond human comprehension. From my observations so far, his attacks left scorched marks. Burn-type damage, resembling a curse that gradually devoured its target with every passing second.
I have to admit, this fierce battle was genuinely spectacular, worthy of praise. Roughly thirty percent of the forces I created had been completely wiped out by the heroes, who fought in tight coordination and with excellent training.
In all previous scenarios, I had never witnessed this. As I mentioned before, I used to be far too aggressive. Every time they reached this castle, I would annihilate them just minutes after their arrival.
But this time was truly different. I was not using my full power. In fact, I deliberately summoned demons that were nothing more than incomplete versions of undead creatures.
"Well then, YOUR MAJESTY SATANOS!! you have noticed it too, haven't you?" the female protagonist shouted once again.
This woman was unbelievably stubborn. Truly stubborn, like trying to break a river stone with bare fists. Even in the middle of the battle, she broke out of the danger zone just to confront me directly, while I was sitting back, relaxed, thinking about my next move.
Before I could respond to her loud declaration, she continued, pointing her sword, drenched in undead blood, straight at me.
"You are the most unworthy king in all of history!"
Yess.
I know that statement well.
Being a king was far too naive an ambition for a lazy person like me. Just dealing with politics alone nearly made my head explode.
In the end, I found the optimal solution. Siphoning profits from the foundation of human necessities to sustain the demon race.
Even if it required using rough methods.
"Even if your name is recorded, it will be nothing more than historical trash!" she said arrogantly, showing off her sword, now shining with a brilliant golden light.
That was a divine envoy sword. A weapon whose level had reached the maximum of 35. And level 35 was considered weak when compared to truly high-tier weapons.
Even so, its destructive power was outstanding. It made early bosses, even mid-tier bosses, far easier to defeat. Well, you could say it was the character's default setup weapon. Not a crafted item, nor some absurdly lucky drop.
"Hey! I'm sick of that blank stare of yours! Say something before I really kill you with my own hands!!"
Damn it. I had been far too generous in sharing information. And now, that sword had reached its final evolution phase. It seemed the foul-mouthed heroine had activated her ultimate power, a blessing granted by the Dragon Gods.
Oh yeah....
I had an idea.
"Oh? So you plan to kill me with something that cheap?" I said calmly, raising my hand, for the last time. "Fin, Momo, Nour, Garb. Join this magnificent battle. It seems our enemies are stronger than before."
I gave the order to the golems and spiritual beings that had been standing at my side since the beginning.
In an instant, those creatures let out deafening roars, then leapt forward and vanished into the shadows, crashing through the rubble and shooting straight into the battlefield below, where the other heroes were still fending off my lower-tier undead forces.
That left only the female protagonist standing before me.
She remained upright, looking fierce and proud.
For some reason, despite being covered in blood, with dents all over her steel armor and her body slightly unsteady, she still looked… cool(?).
Then she hurled an insult at me.
"Now I get it. I understand. So you're the kind of king who hides like a coward!? Sacrificing his entire army just to protect himself because he can't even defend his own territory!? Fine by me…" she laughed mockingly, then wiped the blood dripping from her forehead.
With a more serious tone, she continued. "No. Even if I laugh like a madwoman in this miserable state, I know… someone like you will probably never truly understand…"
This time, there was no laughter. She gathered all of her strength.
Her dented armor emitted a golden light that made me react as if I felt a sense of unease.
Her sword activated once more, transforming into something even stronger than before. She immediately shifted into an attacking stance.
From any angle, it was obvious she could leap toward me at a speed far beyond human comprehension, even surpassing a flash of light. I could feel a massive surge of energy flowing from her body.
Hmm…