Kumo desu ga, Nani ka? 300

Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t…?

300 – The end of the battle, and then……

The clones monitoring the System sensed that the Diligence framework had become vacant. I quickly make arrangements to fill the void left in the Ruler Authority, making adjustments so that the operation of the System is not affected. In addition, I forcibly push my own existence into the vacated Ruler authority framework. With this, only one more framework is needed.

For the Diligence framework to have become vacant, is equivalent to saying that Potimas has died. Died, or rather extinguished, huh. I guess there is a certain karma in that Potimas, who only wanted to live on and never die, had a fate worse than death. He built up so much karma that it’s a problem.

I break into the UFO that was rendered immobile by my threads. This UFO came out after I shot down the sea urchins and triangular pyramid. Given the timing with which it came out, I thought that this would have to be Potimas’s last stand so I captured it instead of shooting it down, and it seems that my expectation was correct. If I’d been told that this in fact was another diversion then I’d have been surprised. If it had then I would have had to raise my evaluation of Potimas up by another step. Well, the fact that Potimas himself is dead, should mean that it really is over now.

At the end of this excessively long journey, I find the Demon King sitting on a chair and operating what appears to be a console in front of her.

「It’s over.」
「I see.」

Without turning around, the Demon King spoke plainly. With her long running bond having been put to an end, I guess there would be various emotions surging inside of her. From her disinterested tone, it seems like instead that her emotions are overflowing so much that conversely she’s become unable to understand her own emotions. It seems that when her emotions overflow too much, that instead her mood becomes impassive.

「Look at this.」

The Demon King points at something on the monitor. Glancing through the characters displayed, I see something worthless written there. An apotheosis experiment using the souls of reincarnators, huh.

Cutting this long-winded theory like thing short, it’s an attempt to create a god by mixing the souls of reincarnators together. Potimas had already given up on using the System’s power alone to become a god. No matter how much experience points in the form of souls he gathered, he wasn’t able to break through the limit. In which case, he considered using a new type of experience points, in other words the souls of humans from another world, and by using the souls of the reincarnators, that perhaps it would be possible to break through the limit.

How worthless. Er, well, kinda. Basically I’m saying that I can’t see any hope of this succeeding. Even if you gathered all the souls in this world, it still wouldn’t be possible to break through the limit. So then just use souls from another world then huh!? If that could make a god then it wouldn’t be so hard in the first place you know. Not that I have any right to say that after having become a god just like that though. So this is the reason why he was gathering the reincarnators huh. Sensei would never have imagined it.

「Well, surely even Potimas wouldn’t seriously think that this could actually create a god though, right? It’s probably just some “if by some chance” type of fleeting hope.」
「But, considering all that, he was incredibly careful about verifying the theory, and was creating equipment for it, it seems though?」
「Potimas’s methods are beyond reason.」

In the words displayed on the monitor, there were minute details on the equipment under development, and the results of verifications performed in order to make the experiment a success. The reincarnators were forcibly put in an environment to make it as hard to gain skills as possible, and to prevent the souls from being transformed by the System on this world, it seems. How to put this – it’s like catching sight of a great endeavor of painstaking detail, all in order to make an experiment with astronomically low odds actually succeed. I guess that’s just how much he wanted to become a god huh. I’m sure he wanted it.

「It’s fortunate that due to him being so cautious and careful that this was never put into practice eh. If we’d been just a year late, the equipment would have been completed and the reincarnators might have been tossed into the blender already.」

I wish you wouldn’t say something so disturbing. However, the Demon King is correct. This time we were saved by Potimas being so cautious. Well, if he’d begun to make a move on the reincarnators, I would have hurried up the plan and launched a direct attack myself though.

「There’s more than this – there’s piles and piles of documents on the findings of Potimas’s research.」
「Woah!」

I couldn’t help saying that. Potimas’s research findings. It seems that there’s loads of worthless stuff.

「Therefore, once I’ve quickly verified the contents, we’ll destroy them, right.」
「That’s fine.」

If these things are left behind, it’ll cause nothing but harm. Actually, I don’t think there’s any need for the Demon King to even verify them.

「This is how things are here, what about your side?」
「You’re asking about everyone, right?」

I’d say everything’s been properly sorted out. Collecting the wreckage of the sea urchins and triangular pyramid will soon be completed. The fires have been extinguished to prevent them from spreading further into the forest. In addition, the secret base hidden underground has been blown away without leaving any trace. Also,

「The only elf remaining is sensei alone.」

All the elves have been completely exterminated. There’s still half-elves and quarter-elves remaining, but there’s no longer any pure elves on this world.

「I see. Then, once this space ship has been destroyed, it really will be the end huh.」
「Deeply moved?」
「I guess so.」

Looking at her from the side as she said that, the Demon King’s face was unusually gentle.

「Ah, that’s right. I kept my promise.」

Promise? Ahh. The one where I said I won’t forgive her if she dies.

「I’ve safely achieved my goals, boss.」

The Demon King turned around in her chair, and gave a jokey salute. Safely, huh.

「You call that safely?」
「So long as I’m not dead, it’s a cheap price to pay.」

The Demon King replied with a smile. Even though she’s currently on the verge of death, and can’t even stand up from her chair.

There’s no wounds on the Demon King’s body. However, instead of on her body, there’s deep wounds all over her soul. The once mighty presence of the Demon King, has now become awfully frail.

「What are your expectations?」
「Hmm. I think with a bit of rest I should be able to move well enough that it doesn’t interfere with daily life. I can’t move properly right now because I’ve exhausted my magic power. Once that recovers, then I’ll be able to move right away.」
「In short, combat is impossible, huh.」
「Well, it’s not impossible if I don’t mind reducing my life span even further though.」
「Demon King.」
「I’m joking. Either way, my life won’t last that long. I guess about a year. What remains is to live out my remaining days so that I can see it through with my own eyes.」

From the start, the Demon King didn’t have that long left to live. However, she should have had much more time left still. Even so, with her life span further reduced by the current battle, she has one year left.

「My role here is done. To be honest, I had wanted to do more, but I’ll leave the rest to you, Shiro-chan.」
「Leave it to me.」
「Then, let’s get started?」

In response to the Demon King’s question, I nod. As an enemy of the world, Potimas has been dealt with. Now begins the story to save the world. However, although I’ll save the world, I’m not saying that I’ll save humanity.

Therefore, I’m initiating actions that will make me an enemy of humanity. Now then, let’s destroy humanity, and save the world and the Goddess. Even if doing so is against the Goddess’s own will.

☆

《Conditions met. Skill『Greed』was acquired》
《Conditions met. Title『Ruler of Greed』was acquired》
《By the effects of the title『Ruler of Greed』, skills『Appraisal LV10』and『Conquest』 were acquired》

「Teheh! He’s dead! That asshole is dead! Ahh, with this, with this I’m finally free! Please wait for me onii-sama! Now that I have this power, I will be able to make onii-sama mine! He’ll be all mine! Teheh, teheheheheheheh!」