The following morning, I was alone in the Audience Chamber.
I spent the time reviewing the documents I had compiled. They contained the intelligence gathered from the Steel Knight.
He had passed away before dawn—a death he had chosen for himself.
I had offered him a path to retire from the front lines and live with his wife and child, but he had refused that as well. No doubt he had his reasons. I didn’t pry, but I suspected he carried a burden that prevented him from choosing such a future.
Personally, I would have welcomed the Steel Knight into the ranks of the Demon King’s Army. A man of his caliber is rare and would have been a great asset. Had he grown weary of battle, I wouldn’t have forced him to fight. He could have lived as a citizen of the Royal Capital, contributing to the development of our society.
Ultimately, however, respecting his wishes was paramount. I had no desire to slight his dignity.
I ended the Steel Knight’s life with magic. It was a peaceful end, devoid of pain or suffering. He wore a look of satisfaction as he passed. To him, the happiness of his family was all that mattered. I believe he was never one for conflict by choice. Though he was a stranger to me, he was a hero burdened by a tragic fate.
(Even though he could have abandoned everything for a future with them...)
I glanced out the window. It was a dismal, rainy day; thick, somber clouds obscured the sky.
(I knew very little of the Steel Knight.)
My knowledge was limited to the reports from my spies. Our time spent face-to-face had been brief. What thoughts had occupied the hero’s mind as he neared his end? Honestly, I couldn't be sure. I didn’t pretend to understand, either. To construct theories and act as though I knew his heart would be an insult to his memory.
If I were in his position, what choice would I have made?
When I think of those precious to me, her face is the first to appear. Though my subordinates in the Demon King’s Army are important, she remains a singular, special presence.
(If I could cast aside my mission and title to spend a lifetime of peace with her, would I truly be able to refuse that option?)
Imagine she was resurrected this very instant. Suppose I had perfected a method to return from undeath to humanity. Could I still commit to being the Demon King for the sake of world peace?
I didn't know. I lacked the confidence to give a definitive answer. Peering too deeply into my own soul was a terrifying prospect.
(…Enough of this. It only invites gloom.)
I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling. It was a waste of energy to let hypotheticals destabilize me. The reality was that I was an immortal, and she was still gone. There was no room for hesitation.
Instead, I turned my focus back to the information the Steel Knight had provided. He had brought several crucial facts to light.
The Steel Knight had first gained recognition as a hero during the Recapture War of the Republic. Before then, he had possessed no remarkable strength, yet he had suddenly become powerful. I had suspected there was more to the story, and he had confirmed it. He had undergone a Secret Ritual Magic in the Holy Staff Kingdom.
The purpose of the ritual was to grant a new Heroic Attribute. It was, essentially, Existence Editing—a redefinition of the individual. Through this art, one is "deemed" to possess potential abilities they don’t actually have, allowing those powers to be forcibly extracted. It was a process of manufacturing a hero.
While it sounds simple, it is incredibly advanced magic—a forbidden art that verges on the divine. It is not something humans were meant to wield. It was a miracle the Steel Knight had survived at all. Tampering with one's existence often leads to immediate annihilation. There was no guarantee that the process would conveniently result only in physical enhancement. If I were to attempt the same, I would almost certainly fail. Success once in a thousand tries would be nothing short of a miracle.
I knew of similar techniques, but I didn't think any of them could be practiced in the modern age. The Holy Staff Kingdom, with its long history, must have reconstructed this ritual from ancient texts.
He wasn’t the only one. Soldiers, mercenaries, slaves, and even commoners had been rounded up by a joint effort between the Holy Staff Kingdom and the Technomagic Kingdom. The Steel Knight hadn’t known the full details, but naturally, most subjects had died, unable to endure the backlash of the magic.
Only three had successfully adapted to become heroes.
The first was the Steel Knight. The second was the Valkyrie stationed at the Republic’s Recaptured Site. The third was a Nameless Man whom the Steel Knight did not know. They had never met, and I suspected this third person was the "Demigod" who had appeared at the World Tree.
The timing of their appearance aligned perfectly. If that transcendent power was an artificial acquisition through the ritual, it explained everything. Depending on compatibility, an individual could potentially gain overwhelming strength.
The Holy Staff Kingdom and the Technomagic Kingdom intended to continue producing heroes to bolster their military might. Once they occupied the Demon King’s Domain, their sights were set on a Continental Conquest by the Two-Nation Alliance. These three heroes were merely the vanguard.
(Good grief... they’ve really done it.)
I looked up from the documents. I knew from the spies that the two nations sought continental dominance, but I hadn't known the specific, horrific methods they were using.
In principle, it is good that nations move to defeat the Demon King. That was part of my design. The sheer willpower to manufacture heroes where talent was lacking was a testament to human tenacity. However, I could not praise this endeavor. While their determination was clear, the cost was far too high. How many lives were being discarded to create a single hero?
The two nations intended to persist with this plan. I had to stop them. This was a taboo—a practice that would shatter the world's stability. I would have to deal with the Demigod eventually, but first, I needed to strike at the source.