Let’s briefly talk about the in-game story.
Though I say “in-game”, it’s actually the core of the world I’ve been transmigrated to.
99.99% of it is just background, but the remaining 0.01%…
It’s something that can be understood in the game, but unless certain conditions are met, it cannot be achieved. Within it lies the secret of the world.
For example, the true name of the final boss, known to people as the Demon King, is something else entirely.
Or, the place known as the Demon World is not actually the Demon World.
Or, the angels sent by the Goddess are actually—
“…Cough.”
Blood drips from my mouth.
My body is breaking down due to mana overload because my flesh cannot handle the mana welling up inside me.
No.
This is the Goddess’s curse.
It’s divine punishment for violating the ‘taboo’ that the Goddess watching from the heavens has forbidden to be used on earth.
In this world, the power used by beings defined as ‘demons’ by the Church of the Goddess.
“This is ridiculous, really.”
I am currently using one of the sources of that power—the strongest demonic power, belonging to a being that appears as an SS-rank boss in the original story. As a result, the Goddess is attacking me with the ‘divine power’ spread throughout the earth.
“To think that the Goddess, who remained silent while the Count was killed and the territory was devastated, would react immediately the moment I used demonic power.”
I wonder if the Goddess can hear me?
Probably.
As someone who has been possessed into this world, she must have been watching me for a long time, observing someone deviating from the rails of fate she laid down.
Even if not, she will notice now.
The power bursting forth from my body, the blue flames burning with this power, are different from the powers of other demons.
Screeeech!!
As soon as I leave the lord’s castle, monsters begin rampaging. Outwardly, it appears as if shadows are rampaging like four-legged beasts, but—
“I see you.”
Sparkle.
Within that black shadow, a faint glimmer of divine power.
“You were sent to kill me.”
Screeech!
A beast of darkness lunges at me.
It’s clearly in the form of a monster, but with divine power infused within, it’s the watchdog of an angel, rushing toward me with its maw wide open.
Snap.
I flick my fingers forward.
Just like when I practiced basic ignition or fireball magic, I shoot the blue flames burning in my hand at the watchdog.
Whoosh.
The blue flames instantly engulf the watchdog.
As long as the divine power hidden within the shadow isn’t extinguished, that watchdog will rebuild its body and attack me again—
“It’s useless. These flames… they burn even divine power.”
The blue flames of the Archduke of Hell spare nothing, not even divine power.
A power that can annihilate the very source of the ‘divine power of the Goddess,’ which is supposed to hold absolute supremacy over any other power.
That is the unique trait of these blue flames, the [Azure Flames].
‘Which is why it was banished to the Demon World.’
Whoosh.
The guard dog is burned by the Blue Flame and disappears.
The watchdog burns away in the Azure Flames. Without even leaving ashes, the divine power burns and scatters like mist into the air.
“Aaagh!”
“Save us!!”
Ahead, I hear the screams of the territory’s residents.
They are running towards me, fleeing from something, and what is chasing them are the so-called ‘demons’ commonly referred to by people.
Horns on their heads, towering over 5 meters tall, with muscular bodies wielding sharp saw-like swords, and bat-like wings—such demons.
“Goddess! Please, we beg you… Aaaagh!!”
[“Fools.”]
A middle-aged man who was praying to the Goddess while fleeing is caught by a demon.
[“Do you really think the Goddess will save you now?”]
My thoughts exactly.
I don’t particularly sympathize with the demons who find joy in killing and hold a deep-seated grudge against the life forms of Middle World, but I do agree with their sentiments toward the Goddess.
“Goddess! Please, with your divine power, vanquish these demons!!”
[“Haha! It’s useless no matter how much you cry out! The Goddess will never help insignificant creatures like you!”]
Though the demon shouts this, does it even realize?
That it’s not one of those demons the Goddess truly fears.
Flash.
[“Wh-what…?! This pillar of light… Descension?! Could it be the Goddess is sending down a protector?!”]
A pillar of light descends from the high heavens to the ground.
As the light touches the earth, it begins to take form, materializing into a massive full-plate armor with angelic wings.
‘Is she already sending down an angel?’
There’s no one inside.
That armor, the Archangel, is the Goddess’s guard, the armor and wings embodying the angel itself.
These are the slaughter machines sent to eliminate any being that opposes the Goddess or threatens her divine power.
[“Hahaha, what will you do now?”]
The voice pierces my head, not my ears.
I’ve heard this voice before when I first made the contract, but it’s nostalgic hearing it directly now, as it was the voice I heard the most in the final stages of the game.
[Will you save the townspeople? Or will you defeat those Seraphic Guardians that are trying to kill you for using ‘my power’?]
‘The choice is obvious.’
I run forward, stretching out my right hand.
[Huh? What is this feeling…?]
At the moment the demon, who had grabbed the middle-aged man, sees me—
[What?]
Snap.
As I flick my fingers, blue flames burst directly onto the demon’s face.
[Kraaaah!!]
The demon howls in agony, dropping the middle-aged man to the ground.
The demon reaches for its face to extinguish the flames, but instead, it panics and tries to conjure a spell.
Water magic.
Cold water gushes out from a magic circle, and the demon tries to put out the flames, but—
[How is this possible?! Why won’t these flames, Kraaaah!]
The flames do not go out and quickly engulf the demon’s head, burning it entirely.
Thud.
The demon’s head disintegrates, and its massive, demonic body collapses forward, crafted from the dark mana of the Demon World.
“Gasp…!”
The middle-aged man gulps and stares at me in fear.
“H-Hiiik…!”
I look at myself reflected in his necklace.
There was no sign of the 7-year-old Regif Habsderk.
The boy who would someday become a blond delinquent no longer existed; all that was left was an adult man, reborn from the boy’s shell, wreathed in blue flames.
[Are you shocked? Of course, you are. Did you really think a mere 7-year-old human body could endure the flames of the Archduke of Hell?]
Regif’s physical body had been completely destroyed.
[But then, how are you so calmly holding on? …Could it be you’re not really 7 years old?]
‘If you’re curious, help me fulfill our contract first.’
I continue running forward.
The demons approaching from the front freeze in terror as they see me.
[Yes, yes. The contract was indeed to eliminate the ‘Marquis-level Demon’ sealed in this land, right?]
‘Lend me your power until that demon is dealt with.’
Whoosh, whoosh.
I dash toward the Demonic Land, burning demons emerging from the Demon World one by one.
My speed rivals that of any high-performance car—no, even a sports car.
[Hmm, fascinating. The more I see… it’s like you ‘know exactly how to use it’, huh?]
A face flickers in my vision.
An unfamiliar yet strangely familiar face, blurry and lacking physical form, briefly passes by.
[How is it that you act as if you ‘know everything’?]
Though the demon speaks politely, it’s clear that it’s trying hard to figure out my true nature.
[But maybe there’s no point in asking? After all, you knew my ‘true name’, which is why you summoned me to make this contract. Heh.]
The demon is simply curious about how a 7-year-old human could summon it.
[You wield my essence as if you’ve used it before. Have we met somewhere before?]
And how I could use its power so naturally.
‘This is my first time.’
In reality, I know it well because I used it in the final stages of the game.
And fundamentally, using these ‘Azure Flames’ isn’t much different from wielding regular flames.
In-game, the protagonist character was a versatile one who could master various mana attributes.
‘I’ve already used fire attributes a countless number of times.’
I often chose fire-based combat when doing speedruns or hardcore playthroughs.
Even after coming to this world, I had been honing my fire magic.
‘Ignition.’
I flick my fingers toward my target, conjuring a burst of magical flames.
[Heh heh heh…! It’s time for slaughter…! Let’s exact bloody vengeance on those who stole our land…!]
Demons continuously pour out from the Demonic Land, confidently marching toward the territory.
[Huh?]
But the moment they notice my presence—
[The flames of the Archduke—]
Whoosh.
[Kyaaaaaaah!!]
Surrounded by the blue flames I conjured, the demons burn fiercely.
[Run away!!]
One of the demons shouts.
[If you get caught by those flames, it’ll burn your soul to ashes, summoning or not!!]
Demons summoned to the material world, especially those summoned by such a powerful demon, usually have their true forms remain in the Demon World while only their souls are sent to the material world.
[Heheheh, there’s no need to be so terrified.]
While the being I’ve summoned is not the one who holds the ‘true name’ I’m currently using—
[They’ll die without even feeling the pain, so why worry so much?]
“Would you like to pass that message to the demon up ahead?”
Thump.
Before I knew it, I had arrived.
Having crossed far beyond the borders of the Demonic Land, I reach the entrance of a cave where demons are swarming.
Thud, thud, thud.
Almost 40m tall.
A gigantic demon, over 40 meters tall. With every step, it feels like an earthquake is occurring due to its massive presence. This demon is one of the bosses you can tackle in the second playthrough—
[Oh? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, isn’t it Rattatosk?]
The demon’s name is Rattatosk.
It’s one of the count demons from the Demon World, who was summoned to the material world and subsequently sealed by the former Grand Duke Habsderk.
To describe its appearance simply, it looks like a horned squirrel.
[What’s this? It turns out you weren’t just hiding all this time but were beaten and sealed by a human? Hahaha!]
Rattatosk laughs.
I find myself smiling in response.
[Kyahhhhhh!!]
The 40-meter-tall squirrel demon opens its mouth wide and lets out a monstrous roar.
[How dare you speak such insolence in front of me! After waking from a slumber of centuries, you speak the Demon Tongue so presumptuously….]
[Oh my.]
As I walk forward, I feel something bursting out from behind me.
[Who are you speaking to now? Heh, my contractor?]
[U-uh….]
[Well, I don’t know how this human figured out my true name either…]
I bring my hands forward.
[We have a contract. The price is ‘everything.’ If you handle that demon, you’ll find out how I was summoned with my true name.]
[Heheheh.]
I place my palms together as if in prayer, steadying my breath.
[And you know how to draw out ‘power’ like this.]
I do know.
I’ve seen it done and done it myself once.
In the 1,000th playthrough.
The condition to achieve the final piece of the game.
In the game, it was to welcome the strongest of the Seven Archdukes of Hell, who appeared as a boss and ‘phantom entity’, as a ‘companion’.
It was a contract with her ‘true form’, living deep within the Demon World, not just her phantom entity.
The last remaining companion in the game.
“Descend.”
I chant.
The name of the entity evaluated as the strongest SS-rank boss at level 99.
“[Phoenix].”
The blue flames envelop me, and wings of flames spread out behind me.
[Now, try it. The power of the Demon World’s greatest strength, obtained by burning your flesh and everything else.]
The power of complete annihilation, even feared by the Goddess.
[The power of ‘Azure Flames.’]
“Azure Flames.”
Snap.
“Open.”
The ‘Domain’ of the blue flames spreads across the battlefield.
It becomes the realm of the Phoenix, enveloped in blazing blue flames.
