Chapter 20: Little Girl Reino

Three days later.

The promised date.

Domain of the Demon God.

"Are you prepared?"

Demon God Havnis descended from her high throne.

I held out a terminal device infused with Dream Power to her.

"Of course. As I mentioned before, the episode containing the story of Demon King Perlereino is ready. You'll be pleased with it."

Since I prepared save data cleared up to Episode 1, she can start from Act 2 without any immersion issues.

"Before we begin, let me explain a few things - if you damage this episode, the recognition won't work properly. Therefore, even if you dislike the story, you must follow it through..."

"Hmm..."

The Demon God stroked her chin after hearing my explanation.

The terminal floated up and into her grasp.

"So if I enter this and complete the given episode, the former Demon King will be resurrected?"

"That should be the case. It worked for both the Magi-Engineer and the Sacrifice."

No, that won't happen.

Because you won't be clearing this episode.

Even if you did, the Demon King cannot be resurrected.

The Act 2 story distributed to other Players has an added choice at the climactic moment - whether to assist or prevent the Demon King's massacre.

Beyond adding a choice that completely opposes the original history, the Players' cognition who experience this episode will be divided. This will be entirely different from the previous cases of the Ten Heroes and Saint Kate.

"I believe if Lady Demon God does it herself, you could reach the clear in less than half a day."

Let's add a bit of flattery.

"Good. Since I'm the one doing it, I'll finish it faster than anyone else."

True to her proud nature as a Demon God, she turned on the terminal without a shred of doubt.

Whirr-

As the Demon God activated the terminal, the Dream Power contained within enveloped her.

Through Dream Power, I entered [Akashic Archive] developer mode while watching her.

*

Flash-

"Finally, time for the third trial."

"...?"

Having entered through Dream Power, the Demon God found herself being addressed by a black-haired human boy in the game.

"This is the final trial. Once you pass this test, you can become the official Supervisor of the [Akashic Archive]."

Boring words spilled out.

Though she wanted to flip everything over and grab the Supervisor's neck right then, remembering the Dream Apostle's earlier warnings made the Demon God hold back for now.

Snap-

As the Supervisor snapped his fingers, a book flew from the bookshelf between him and the Demon God.

"This story will be a bit different from the previous ones."

The book's pages began turning one by one.

"The Abyss's erosion is the same as before. But it's not through Monsters this time. This time, the erosion affected the protagonist's mind."

Divine power flowing from the Supervisor's hand created an illusion in the air.

'...Perlereino?'

The Demon God was surprised by the sudden appearance of the former Demon King.

"She's both the protagonist of this story and the one you must guide down the right path."

"...What do you mean, I must guide her down the right path?"

The Supervisor crossed his arms at the Demon God's question.

"It's simple. The Demon King who is this story's protagonist caused a major event that determined the fate of many races in this world. Because of that event, this world could exist like this in the [Archive]. As a world worth recording. The problem is that the Abyss's interference damaged her will."

"Her will was... damaged?"

"Yes. What she did was only possible because of her firm resolve and will, but the Abyss corrupted that. Your task is to help her by staying by her side."

"...How should I help?"

"Unlike before, when you enter this story you won't possess any of the internal characters. Instead, you'll remain by Perlereino's side in soul form. Don't worry. You won't experience her entire life directly. We'll accelerate through all the unimportant parts, so just think of it as helping her during the most crucial moments."

Whirr-

The Supervisor's power swirled around the book.

"Remember. We are Supervisors of the [Akashic Archive]. Our mission is to preserve events from across the universe exactly as they happened. Even if we dislike the conclusion, we must not change things arbitrarily."

The Demon God half-listened to his words.

She only wanted to quickly finish everything and meet Perlereino again.

"Then let's begin."

The world contained in the book swallowed up the Demon God.

*

A quiet rural village bathed in moonlight.

Flames rose from the village that should have been peaceful.

"Kill all the demons!"

"Kill them and take everything!"

The human mercenaries dragged out villagers hiding in their homes and slaughtered them mercilessly.

"Hahaha! The flesh of demons is something else! So soft and satisfying to cut!"

"We can kill as many as we want without punishment! What could be better than this slaughter!"

Even though most of the demons were women and children without the strength to resist, the mercenaries reveled in cutting through their flesh and bones with metal.

"How dare they...!"

The Demon God clenched her fists, eyes bloodshot.

This was a sight common across the continent before she ended the Demon War and broke the Chain of Hatred between races.

In the past, demons were extremely discriminated against by other races and often hunted.

Having lost her own parents to other races, the current scene was hard for her to bear.

If she had been there in her true form, she would have immediately turned all the human mercenaries to dust.

But she was in soul form.

She had no physical power to intervene.

Ding-

[First Help]

-The demon you must help is still young. The young Demon King's village was attacked by demon hunters. In this world, only she can see your soul. Guide the young demon to survive.

As the main quest guidance appeared, a virtual arrow appeared in the corner of her vision indicating the target's location.

The Demon God's soul floated and flew following the guidance.

A small house in the corner of the village.

"Reino, you must not come out no matter what. Understand?"

"But mom!"

A classic scene - hiding a young demon girl in the basement covered with furniture so she wouldn't be found, then sacrificing oneself as bait to save the child.

It was something that could be seen anywhere on the continent at the time, but that made it all the more heartbreaking.

'This is my master's past.'

"I love you Reino."

"Mom! Mooooom!"

The woman shed tears and completely sealed the basement before going outside.

When she opened the door to leave, the mercenaries trying to enter her house discovered her.

"It's a demon woman!"

"Get her!"

Though demons have far superior physical abilities compared to humans, ordinary demons who grew up normally are no match for mercenary killing machines.

The demon woman was immediately caught by the mercenaries.

"Hehehe. We caught a real high quality one here."

"This'll be fun to cut up. I'm taking the hands."

"Ugh you sick bastard. You want to keep those?"

While the mercenaries enjoyed cutting apart and dismembering her body, the woman desperately held back her screams.

She was afraid that if she screamed, her beloved daughter might hear and react, giving away her location.

The Demon God watched the dying woman with complicated eyes.

Even for one as proud as herself, the woman's final moments deserved respect as she desperately endured the pain to protect her beloved daughter.

"Make some noise you bitch! This is no fun!"

One mercenary stabbed his twisted blade into the woman's abdomen and twisted it around.

"Aaaagh!"

Though she had been holding back to avoid making any sound, pain beyond her limits forced a scream from the woman's mouth.

And that scream echoing through the area

"Mom!"

Made the girl hiding in the basement react.

"...Hm?"

"Sounds like there's another one."

"That direction."

"Let's get it."

The mercenaries threw the woman to the ground and headed toward the sound.

The woman tried to crawl and grab their ankles with her blurry vision.

"Ugh disgusting woman. Still moving?"

Crack!-

She finally found peace as a mercenary's kick took her head.

Meanwhile, the girl crying in the basement was covering her mouth with both hands.

Bang! Bang!-

"Hey! Bring a hammer over here!"

The mercenaries were breaking through the basement entrance right above.

Death had come right to her doorstep.

"You."

Just then, a beautiful mature woman appeared beside her.

"Eh?"

The girl's eyes went wide.

"There's no time. If you don't want your mother's sacrifice to be in vain, quickly listen to me."

The Demon God's appearance was exactly as Havnis imagined her true form.

To the girl, she looked like a magnificent being straight out of a fairy tale.

The girl silently nodded.

"Good. First try moving your Demonic Energy."

"?"

"There's no time. Haah, if you're really Reino you should be able to do this... This won't work. First focus your nerves on your lower abdomen..."

Basic usage of Demonic Energy.

Following the Demon God's hasty teaching, the girl learned how to use Stealth through Demonic Energy.

"Done. Now use it!"

As Demonic Energy enveloped the girl's body, she shimmered and vanished.

At the same time

Crack!

A large hammer broke through the basement entrance.

"...What? There's nothing here?"

"That can't be."

"Did we hear things?"

"Ugh. Must've been nothing. Let's get out of here."

The mercenaries spat and went outside.

Then they set fire to the empty house.

*

As a developer, I possessed the Supervisor version in the story that the Demon God was playing through.

Everything is going according to plan.

The Demon God, who will accompany her master and witness her entire life, will see the truth behind it all.

What will happen when everything she thought she knew about her master is denied and she learns the truth?

When she realizes this episode is not a revenge story against the master who betrayed her,

But a sad yet precious farewell journey with her master.