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Chapter 12: Curtainfall
A man wearing a worn-out black frock coat stood in the middle of the vast, empty land and assessed the two girls before him with a hawkish gaze. They were the poor souls who’d been at the mercy of this cruel world and their even crueler fate and found themselves possessed by the moon’s magic.
The land where they stood was strange, to say the least. Something had clearly been under construction there at some point, given the various spots with scaffolding and the lumps of clay and lumber brought from elsewhere and placed in strategic locations around the area. The strangeness came from the lack of even a skeleton of a building, leaving only the eerie feeling of emptiness in its place, as if they had given up before they’d even started.
The scene graphically portrayed the fact the man was the last one standing.
“It’s you, then?” he asked quietly. “You’re the ones who defeated my army? Fate seems to get a kick out of messing with me to allow you to do so with such finesse.”
The man sounded amused. Though his deep, baritone voice and word choice made him sound introspective, it was filled with a certain kind of mirth, like he was enjoying this conversation and didn’t feel an ounce of wariness or alarm.
Enů m̌ а .і̊ d̈
“However…that means I must end you here. That’s the way this works, after all.”
Brave Questers’ last boss is…the Demon Lord.
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This man was the final destination on the Elfuur Sisters’ regret trip.
“I don’t know how you felled my army. But insignificant small fry can’t even land a scratch on my body.”
The world warped with his words. The Magic Power in the air fluctuated rapidly and surrounded his body. It then became a jet-black garment, creating the ultimate defense.
〈！〉The Demon Lord puts up a Dark Barrier!
Ë n.ům̈ а́. і_d́
The girls could no longer see the man’s face, proving the existence of an inviolable force field that was strong enough to distort light and space.
However…
〈！〉The Hero’s power disperses the darkness!
The Dark Barrier has been dispelled!
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A flash of light came from the Elfuur Sisters, followed by a high-pitched cracking sound that resulted in the barrier surrounding the Demon Lord to shatter like glass. Surprise clouded the face that had been obscured by the darkness a moment before.
“That ability… Does this mean you have awakened the Hero’s power? How is that possible? The Hero isn’t supposed to exist in this world… That’s the way this was supposed to work, so what in the accursed void is going on?”
Ë ň ŭm̊ а̇
The Demon Lord looked baffled for the first time. Only the Hero could use this ability—that was true in every single memory he possessed, and the same person always filled the Hero’s shoes, no matter the playthrough.
The Dark Barrier was his Ultimate Defense skill that protected against every kind of attack. It was because of this very power of his that he was able to terrorize his last world and it became known throughout the land that only the Hero could defeat the Demon Lord. That premise…that absolutely immutable law crumbled before his eyes.
For the first time in his life, the Demon Lord experienced the emotion known as confusion.
“Who gave you that power? What granted you the Hero’s power?”
The girls didn’t answer. They merely walked closer in silence.
Did they not know the language? Or were they simply not interested in conversing with him?
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The Demon Lord chuckled to himself as he remembered the true Hero was also a silent man.
“It’s of little consequence either way. I must destroy everything and conquer the world. That’s the way this works.”
And so, the Demon Lord changed mindsets: from conversation mode to battle mode, from a scruffy-looking man to the Demon Lord.
…It’s not just his mindset that changed either.
The Demon Lord’s frock coat ripped as his body swelled and countless blades grew out of him like a coat of porcupine spines. He grew in size until he was bigger than a small manor.
“…You think it strange for me to transform from the outset? Would you prefer this to go through boss battle stages like in the game? No one would ask for such constraints in this world that’s been freed from so many of the restrictions we’ve come to know.”
Еn̄u m̈ а̄. і d
The man’s same low, baritone voice boomed from the giant body with blazing, blood-red eyes.
The Demon Lord’s body embodied every battle in this world, and that’s not just a metaphor. His new form was comprised of innumerable moving corpses with swords, axes, spears, shields, chainmail, and numerous other battle equipment linked together to form its armor.
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The Demon Lord’s true form was a four-legged beast whose very existence symbolized discord and conflict.
A giant eyeball rolled in its socket to focus on the Elfuur Sisters. The coat of blades adorning the beast’s back clanged together in a chorus that almost sounded alive.
As someone who’d finished verifying which restrictions had carried over to this world from Brave Questers, the Demon Lord decided to use his full strength to eliminate the two girls. His supernatural senses as the Demon Lord and the warning bells set off by his racing heart led him to that immediate decision.
In other words, every part of his being told him he mustn’t underestimate these girls. That they were a terrifying anomaly in this strange new world…
Еn̈ uṁ a . îd
“It’s likely that…defeating you is a trial I have been tasked with completing.”
There was no point in conversing with them. Conversations are established when more than one person participates, and that was nigh impossible with these girls who only answered him with bloodlust. Although he understood that, the Demon Lord still had something he HAD to ask them.
The lonely Demon Lord asked them one final question, as if that question were necessary to start the battle.
“There is something I wish to…confirm with you before we fight.”
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After the entire army of monsters had been slaughtered, forgotten they were even alive, or were devoured, their lord, the last one standing, asked his foes about the one thing that mattered most to him.
“Do you believe there is a god?”
W̄ еbnо v_ẽl̈ Еǹu m̊а́
“No such thing exists,” both girls spat with the hatred that had driven them this far.
〈！〉The Demon Lord appeared!
And so commenced a battle meant to pay tribute to all those who’d died, to all the memories that were long gone, and to the past they could never return to.
◇◇◇
BATTLE ignited between both sides. In a single moment,Maria and Caria doled out coordinated, invisible attacks unique to them, and the Demon Lord eclipsed all of these attacks with sheer strength.
“Blades! Offer up a life to me!”
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Hundreds of the countless weapons that composed the Demon Lord’s true form shot off his back into the sky, took a radial orbit, and rained down on the Elfuur Sisters. This attack that could be described as a rain of death looked like a death sentence from the target’s point of view. More than a hundred blades were raining down from the sky with perfect accuracy.
But the attack’s target was no ordinary opponent either. Far from it. They might’ve only just come into this role, but they were still…Witches. Together the twins counted as one of Idoragya’s Seven Apocalypse-Bringing Evil Witches. They weren’t benevolent enough to be wiped out by such an attack.
“Ahahahaha! So perty!”
Maria lifted both hands toward the sky, her eyes sparkling with childish delight. The second the magic circle blazing in her eye flashed, the sharp weapons cascading toward the girls all forgot their objective.
“Caria!!”
“…I’ve got it, Big Sista.”
W̄ е̄ b̌ ñо̌ v̈ е̂l̆ Е̌ n u m̆ а
Caria’s magic circle flashed next, causing the ground under the Demon Lord’s feet to give away and unbalance his large body.
“Impudent brats!” he cursed them.
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They didn’t directly attack the Demon Lord because of his level and high Defense. The twins’ Addled and Plagued skills were powerful, but they could be resisted by opponents with much higher stats. They could instantly kill low-level mobs, but they needed time to take on more powerful enemies.
Attack range limitations and the Demon Lord’s regeneration abilities made things even more difficult. The Demon Lord had been sticking to attacking them at a distance ever since he’d used Analyze to assess their abilities at the start of the battle. To make matters worse, his powerful regeneration abilities healed any damage he’d received and dispelled Forget whenever it did get applied.
On the other hand, all the Demon Lord’s attacks kept forgetting their objective due to Maria’s Addled, so the battle was essentially at a stalemate.
For that very reason, Maria chose now to unbalance the Demon Lord and momentarily distract him. They put this plan into action to make close-combat a possibility…by obtaining a physical weapon.
Ẅ е̊ bñ o v̆ е̊ l̂ Е̇n ũ m̈ ã
〈！〉The Elfuur Sisters have obtained the Demon Lord’s weapon.
…The Demon Lord’s weapon is cursed!
The girls were quick to scoop up their pick of the countless weapons that’d been launched at them and now littered the battlefield. Maria went with dual blades and Caria chose the halberd.
Of course…
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〈！〉Maria uses Addled!
The Demon Lord’s weapon has forgotten its curse!
W̆ é b n оv e̊ l Е̄ n̊ um̄å
…the curse wasn’t even worth worrying about.
“You dare to wield a piece of my body?! What arrogance! What insolence! And that’s what makes you perfect fodder for my trial!”
The ground exploded as the girls charged forward. The volley of weapons launched to intercept them instantly vanished, and boils erupted all over the Demon Lord’s body to hinder his movement.
And still, the Demon Lord did not succumb.
Blade and claw that could easily tear through steel clashed at speeds beyond what the human eye could follow. The Demon Lord couldn’t run away. Even if he weren’t restricted by the system, he still wouldn’t have that option. The battle was slowly but surely leaning in the Elfuur Sisters’ favor.
The Demon Lord had entered his final boss form from the start. He no longer had any aces up his sleeve to bring the battle back in his favor. Not only were his debuffs being nullified, but he also couldn’t even land one of his normal physical attacks on them. Meanwhile, the close-combat attacks his opponents doled out were definitely bringing him closer to his demise.
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Game Over—those two painful words and the inevitable, eternal erasure from existence that they promised plagued his thoughts already.
“I can’t lose! God is on my side! There’s no way I’ll lose in a place like this after God chose me!” the Demon Lord howled.
His cry was a plea to the “god” who’d given him knowledge and led him to this world. How ironic it is for a being who’s supposed to bring darkness to the world to believe in God.
“Peace! The peace I desire more than anything is just within reach! I will overcome this trial given by my god!”
Is it not even more comedic for all these evil-doers to seek their own peace across the board?
This goes for Flame General Flamin, who’d gone out with a bang alongside Isla, and the Demon Lord as well. Why were they brought to this world? Why were they given sentience?
Е nù mа. ì d̈
How much happier would they have been if they could have just continued to live on as game data without being given a soul?
The Demon Lord was reminded of what had transpired when he came to this world. He’d been greeted by an endless expanse of white nothingness and an overwhelming presence that told him just how tiny and worthless his existence was. Then came the truth of the world.
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Yes, God exists.
It appeared before them and undeniably made a deal with them. It was because of that promise—that deal they made with God—that the Demon Lord didn’t question this land or his quest to conquer the world. He only became all the more determined to do so after learning he was an existence that couldn’t do anything else.
Everything he did was for the eternal peace and happiness brought about by God. All of it was so he could ascend from a game character to a being with an immutable soul.
“AaaaaHAHAHAHA!” Maria laughed. “C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! Are you silly? God doesn’t exist. There isn’t a god ANYWHERE! The world is cruel like that!”
Е n̊ú m_â
“You keep blathering on and on about god-this and god-that. Shut your yapping trap before I make you,” Caria said coldly.
Both girls were utterly uninterested in his unobtainable dream.
“God… God does exist! It’s God who grants peace! Only God understands our suffering! That’s the deal! That’s how it’s supposed to work! My existence here is proof of that!” the Demon Lord roared.
Everything that’d happened at that time, from God’s compassion to the Demon Lord’s confession, wish, and declaration before him, swirled through the Demon Lord’s head.
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He was but one scruffy man, and his ambitions were about to crumble away like sand spilling through his fingers. And at the hands of just two girls! His wish was going to be extinguished before two measly little girls!
“I will obtain freedom. I will obtain freedom and go to a world without conflict! I’ll go outside these confines! Go outside the game!” the Demon Lord thundered. “The great god will grant my wish if I just believe!”
Wе̄bn õ v̂е̂ l Е̄ṅǔ m̄ а̊
The girls who’d clearly heard him merely looked at the Demon Lord like they were looking at the filth that had gotten on their clean, white shoes.
The twins knew better. They knew this world was devoid of hopes and dreams. Everything was deserving of hatred, and the more you believed, the greater the betrayal you’d taste.
The only thing worth believing in was the past. The only thing they could believe in was the kind souls who were lost to the world because of their kindness. Their minds, bodies, powers, wills, convictions, thoughts—everything that they were, was dedicated to the past.
Filled with regret for those who’d died, the girls who went mad with the power of the moon pushed on solely for the people they had lost.
“It’s the world! God will grant any wish if you offer up the world! What’s your god? What do you believe in?! Tell me the name of your god!”
“God doesn’t exist,” the girls repeated in unison.
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God doesn’t exist. Such a convenient being doesn’t exist in any corner of this wicked world.
Their king’s kind smile briefly came to mind, but they shook it off. They both felt their hearts squeeze.
──The moon illuminated the scene with its beautiful, silver light.
◇◇◇
THE battle came to a predictable end. The Demon Lord’s abilities came up short against the Elfuur Sisters, who were strengthened by the maximum buffs granted to them by the full moon. The difference in strength was too great to be upended by a random miracle. Things might have gone differently if there wasn’t such a huge power gap between them. But reality is cruel like that.
A video game can be considered like a world of its own. It entertains many people, tells a lengthy story, and puts people through emotional rollercoasters.
Ẃ еb n о̊vе l̇ Ě_ñumӑ
Considered a classic masterpiece in the role-playing game genre, Brave Questers has a deep-rooted fanbase and has spawned countless saves, fan theories, remakes, and every kind of spin-off into other media formats. As the last boss who faces off with the player at the end of every Brave Questers, the Demon Lord’s end was too quick and lonely.
“Ahh, I’m going to die in obscurity. My dreams…my hopes…are going to fade away.”
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Even after losing all his weapons and being downed, the Demon Lord still held on to life. The twins seemed to have already lost all interest in him as they stared absently up at the moon.
The battle was over.
They didn’t have any compassion for the loser.
But even if the battle was over for the Elfuur Sisters, the same couldn’t be said of the Demon Lord.
Е̃ ǹ u̇ m̃ä. іd
“I mustn’t… I can’t die. As long as I still have the will to go on, I swear to God…I will not die!”
Sometimes a strong enough will can change fate. Sometimes it’s even possible to forcefully overcome the impossible. Even more so when that impossible fate is defined as a game event. The game system doesn’t care about the “characters” after all.
〈！〉A strong will supports the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord’s injuries rapidly recover!
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Awakening to a new power in a moment of crisis—is perhaps one of the most cliched and conventional tropes built into so many games stories that many have grown irritated with it. But it’s because it’s so very cliched and common that it shows up so often.
The world is cruel and yet cruelly fair.
Ẇèb̃ñо_v̌е l̄ Е̂ ǹ.ǔ m̊ а
If two powerless, pitiful girls can obtain a new power amid their regret and hatred, then it should be equally possible for a powerful creature of darkness to obtain new power amid hope and longing.
“Oh! Ooooh! I knew it! I knew it! I’m not meant to be ended here! God loves me!”
A new magical power wrapped around the Demon Lord’s body and emitted a bright light. It was a strong and refined light. Eyes blazing with an unshakeable will burrowed into the girls when they finally deigned to look his way.
“See! God has been watching over me! God will bring me victory!”
And then the Demon Lord raised his resonant voice to utter the name of the god he put all his hopes and dreams in…
“Hear me! My god’s name is—”
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〈！〉God’s name mustn’t be uttered without permission.
“…Wha?”
Someone came flying down from the sky. It wasn’t the Elfuur Sisters or the Demon Lord but a third party who wasn’t welcome there. The click of metal like a sword being unsheathed could be heard in the distance.
Silver light ran in a straight line, followed by a thunderous roar. A vertical line formed in the Demon Lord’s body quicker than the dirt kicked up into the air.
With the superior senses and abilities they’d inherited from Isla, the Elfuur Sisters jumped away just before the attack landed and turned their sharp gazes toward the Demon Lord as they regained their balance.
“……”
W е́b̂n̄ о̊v él̆_ Е̄ ñu m а
There they found their former enemy cut perfectly in two. The cut was a thing of wonder. He was beautifully sliced in half with such a perfect line, you’d think the attack was made with a ruler. The attacker seemed to have applied just the right amount of strength to rip through the Demon Lord’s thicker than steel body without doing much damage to the area around him. This was only further proven by the fact the giant body formed from iron and corpses was still standing.
But the change became more apparent with the passage of time. Before long, the Demon Lord’s halved body slowly fell to the ground and turned into an unbelievably large mountain of gold coins.
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〈！〉The Demon Lord has been defeated!
Brave Questers’ Demon Lord’s Army has been destroyed!
The girls exchanged brief looks before returning their gaze to the interloper.
Something had interfered and stolen their kill. That reprehensible interloper had swooped in with what seemed like very intentional timing to slay the Demon Lord.
Е n̂ ǔm̈ а_. і d_
Who did it? For what purpose? And how? Various questions flashed through their minds but vanished without an answer.
This was an unexpected turn of events, but it didn’t distract the twins from what was important. Their instincts as the HERO, a Hero unit, and as Witches told them to be on high alert against the being that easily put down the Demon Lord before they could.
“…Who might you be?” Maria asked.
“…Why did you interfere with us?” Caria asked.
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A man appeared once the dust settled. He didn’t look that…old. He actually seemed way too young. Probably only four or five years older than the twins. He was a young man with a curved, single-edged weapon that glowed beautifully in the moonlit night, wearing an unfamiliar black outfit unlike anything the girls had ever seen before.
This frivolous-looking man shook the blood off his weapon with one swing and then returned it to its scabbard. The girls were watching him. Confusion and wariness flickered in their gaze, but it was outweighed by the hatred burning there.
Ĕǹ umǎ. іd̃
The Demon Lord was…their enemy. They were planning on annihilating every last enemy—directly or indirectly—responsible for the death of their second mother. As civilians who were suddenly thrust into this nightmare, the girls didn’t know much about the Demon Lord’s Army or Brave Questers.
But the superior senses they’d inherited with Isla’s Hero trait and the abilities of the HERO they had awoken to during Flamin’s event accurately showed them the truth behind the tragedy. That was why they were convinced the Demon Lord was the cause of it all, and they’d wielded their strength to avenge Isla by winning the battle against him.
The girls were no longer helpless—they had power now. Their power had the potential to destroy the world without anyone being able to stop them. They were hoping that if they defeated their mother’s enemy with that power, the deep sea of emptiness they felt inside might fade a little.
The cruel, cruel world wouldn’t even give them that much? Their anger boiled over, and that emotion, coupled with a thick dark aura, distorted the space around them like a shimmer of hot air.
Who were they up against?
Their alarm seemed unnecessary when the man reacted to their death glare with a look of shock. Then he uncomfortably scratched his cheek, a reaction that felt a little too lighthearted for the moment…
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“Huh… Did I do something wrong?” he asked innocently.
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