NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88
It’s too early.
“Damn, why did they invade the academy? Is it because I defeated the Magic Hat?”
I thought they would at least wait until after Kainel and Ariel graduated, which is five years later and the starting point of [Night Heart].
“Glory to the Four Great Heroes!!”
“Use the academy students to stop the Ten Heroes!!”
A bunch of cultists were threatening the students with swords and magic, trying to hinder the Ten Heroes from finding the Head.
Just watching it made me feel sick. Just like with Servi, this guy is the definition of hypocrisy.
A madman who thinks it’s okay for others to get hurt as long as he can save many lives.
I dashed through the Hero Church, cutting down anyone in my way while dodging their attacks, heading toward the Central Hall.
Head Ake. The Demon King of All Knowledge.
There was a reason I never thought of him when I always considered our Saintess.
“The powers or abilities of the Demon King aren’t perfect either.”
He couldn’t take any life from the Nameless Saintess, which showed in the final battle when he excluded her.
They acted like strangers, so I never thought it was Head’s doing. Aren’t there a lot of ‘nameless characters’ in other games?
Characters who lose their memories, have their names stolen, or get forgotten by history are common. It’s a standard trope in famous games.
“Besides, even if it’s forgotten by power, traces should remain somewhere.”
The Celestial Demon engraved on the Ten Heroes’ statues proved that, as did Dennis, who didn’t forget her. Even the powers of a demon king aren’t omnipotent.
The Magic Hat creates illusions, but the real names or records remain in the world, which is its flaw.
Advantages and disadvantages. Especially for good powers, there should be at least one countermeasure to match. Nothing in this world is perfect.
“What did the original do…?”
The demon king referring to save files. To break that, I needed a slight trick.
“I need to find Dennis, the original protagonist.”
The real-time updated save files can’t be referenced. It relies on pre-seen information through the ‘calculation’ process.
It would be effective to use information he doesn’t know to attack. That’s why Dennis likely tried to disrupt the Head’s calculations under the pretext of a group project.
“Now that Dennis has mastered 3D magic circles, he might be his natural enemy.”
I could use the latest available weapons or techniques. Of course, it might be tough due to the Head’s baseline stats.
Unlike the ending part of [Night Heart], I’m currently lacking both artifact-level items and max-level companions. But I was determined.
“..The sea? How?”
I stopped in front of the Central Hall. Feeling blank while looking at a building seemingly submerged in the ocean was surreal.
“It’s not the same as the original.”
Dennis’s weaknesses were already figured out. I had no clue where my actions were exposed.
*
Dennis was peacefully watering yellow flowers, taking a break.
“..Huh? What’s going on?”
Suddenly, gunshots echoed, and the surroundings turned dark. It was a sound he had heard before.
Recognizing it as Head Ake’s attack, Dennis quickly looked out the window.
“This damn Head…”
As he opened the window, he saw fish swimming leisurely around. He tried to escape through the magic circle outside.
“..Water and water mix. A river flows into the sea. Is that it?”
His water-based magic kept getting canceled. An attack using spirit magic.
Similarly, the Phoenix of the Ten Heroes, Asha Aureus, burned everything else.
If I could use the water spirit, I could melt everything too.
Moreover, his magic is like alcohol. It loses its potency when diluted. Even for Dennis, who twists concepts to use magic, there were weaknesses.
But was there anyone in this era powerful enough to control this much water? The moment that thought crossed his mind…
“Professor Dennis!!”
“..Licht? How did you get in?”
Just then, a man wearing a black knight’s helmet entered the clubroom. It seemed like Licht was answering his question by showing a sword shimmering with blue light.
“It rains in the sea, too.”
“I see. But aren’t we just trapped like rats?”
Using his powers, Licht had gotten to the place where rain was falling, but it looked like he came in dripping wet.
Dennis was activating his magic circle, trying to break through the water barrier.
“Professor, let’s use the 3D magic circles instead.”
“Wasn’t this supposed to be nullified by spirit magic, Licht?”
“It would be for regular magic, but…”
The black knight interjected, and the blue-haired man seemed to understand.
“Teleportation. Unlike before, we can use it now, Professor.”
“..Right.”
Dennis spread his palm. A ball of magic circles emerged from his right hand, taking a perfect spherical shape.
“Spatial coordinates are three-dimensional like this magic circle you taught me.”
Quickly spinning a satellite around the black magic circle, he cast several spells simultaneously.
“If some magic circles fail due to spirit magic mixing, we just need to increase the number of magic circles.”
Dennis and I transformed into the shape of a water droplet and teleported outside the Central Hall.
*
As we emerged outside, the academy was descending into chaos. Laplace was launching magic circles, keeping the Hero Church at bay, while the sage used foresight to evacuate the students to safety.
“..Is that…?”
I shuddered at the sight of a long-haired woman controlling an orca spirit outside. A character related to Nex from [Black Heart].
I knew from the start that Schartines’s kidnapping was linked to Head, but I never expected it to be this shady.
“It’s confirmed that Nex became a rogue.”
It was a plot orchestrated by the Demon King of All Knowledge. But why? What could warrant the risk of kidnapping the second saintess?
“Prophecy, he definitely said it was a prophecy.”
Reflecting on what I heard while fighting Servi, I felt something was off when Dennis spoke up.
“..Why is Lady Aqua from the outskirts here? Is the Demon King really on her side?”
“That chalice-like object she’s holding. Could it be…?”
In the game, that cursed item caused massive costs to the user while enhancing spirit skills.
I rushed over to the orca-woman.
…
“Something’s off with this person.”
Her eyes were blank. Drool dripped from her mouth. I thought she was about to attack me using the orca, but instead, she just kept flooding the Central Hall with seawater.
“She’s been tricked. Not like Head.”
The sight gave me an unsettling feeling. If this person was here right now, and if Dennis was meant to be trapped…
It meant it was all a ploy.
What was Head aiming for now?
What was this ‘prophecy’ that the all-knowing demon king was obsessively acting upon? I stopped for a moment to think.
In the original [Night Heart], if his health dropped below a certain point, the demon king would shoot his own temple with a revolver and commit suicide.
“Failed again. I’ll see you at the time of prophecy.”
That could be seen as a hollow way to clear the game. Therefore, the strategy was easier than the Magic Hat boss.
But now, what was this? What was this prophecy that made him appear so desperate?
It was rare for him to take the spotlight, especially since he appeared only at the very end of the original.
His cold demeanor seemed too passionate. If it was just about me, he wouldn’t need to go this far.
“Think. Think. What differences are there from what I know?”
The changes in the history of Nex Aureus and Schartines, the overcoming of Kainel and Ariel’s trauma due to the defeat of the Magic Hat, the academy’s enrollment…
“Wait, the academy enrollment?”
As I continued those thoughts, an electric jolt surged through my body like being struck by lightning. The protagonists of the third part are not the players.
Unlike Lee Soo-hyun, the one playing the game, I am just the character I was raising. The Black Knight Licht. This means the protagonist of [Grand Hertz Academy] is…
Mardol Grancia.
The cold yet warm glass knight. The emperor’s daughter. If Head was targeting her, then the kidnapping of Schartines was part of this plan all along.
“That makes sense.”
If I hadn’t existed, it would have been easy to draw in Nex Aureus, and with all of his siblings captured, he would have fallen right into the demon king’s hands since she was already shaken by Queen Bellin.
“Then flipping the empire would have been possible.”
Indeed, Emperor Rock was someone who cared for his family. If his daughter’s life was at stake, he might have submitted to the Demon King.
That’s why Mardol never appeared in the original or its sequels, and Crown Prince Rufus emerged to cover up the unease.
─Bang.
Just then, the sound of gunfire pierced my ears once more. The location was the upper floors of the academy building where the second-year students were, the place where Nex Aureus was.
“..Professor Dennis.”
“What’s wrong, Licht?”
There was no time to think anymore. I had to decide whether to protect Mardol again or Nex.
“First, send me to Nex Aureus…”
In that moment of hesitation, a line from the Saintess came to mind: A black knight is better than a hero who saves one, but fails to save all.
“Teleport me to the location where Mardol is in exactly five minutes.”
On top of that, I was honestly greedy.
I didn’t want anyone to fall for the demon king’s plot.
If it’s the Dennis I know, it should be totally doable. The white-clad cult was rushing towards us again.
“Now that I think about it, unlike me who was summoned to fill a gap, you really are a hero, Licht.”
“..That’s not really the case. I’m just a black knight.”
With a radiant white aura, he quickly handled the students being held hostage in the rear.
That was somewhat accurate. The substitute chosen to handle the fallen heroes was Dennis.
Neither of us had the Holy Sword, the badge of a chosen hero. Yet, in this world, meaningful fakes sometimes hold more value than the real thing.
Strong ordinary people gathered to take down the heroes who had turned into demon kings. That was the very essence and purpose of the Ten Heroes.
“Professor, relying solely on heroes makes for a very opportunistic world, don’t you think?”
If only heroes could catch the demon king, what would the world even exist for? Especially if you put the disqualified hero forward.
Heroes are supposed to carry the qualifications that match them. I was admiring people like Kainel in a time gone by.
“Yeah, you have a point. Leave this to me. ‘Black Knight’ Licht.”
Hearing my question, Dennis wore a smile that exuded trust and activated a 3D magic circle.