The Twisted Pilgod

“Please… just end it already!”

“What are you talking about? We’re nowhere near done.”

It seemed the Twisted Pilgod’s stamina was even worse than I remembered. After just a few hits, he’d roll around, trying to lie down, so I’d already healed him five times. Pilgod, having been thoroughly beaten, even started whimpering.

“You’re worse than a demon, you bastard! Just kill me! Kill me!”

“Why are you acting like this? Get up quickly. I still have the Healwind combo, some aerial launches, and so much more to show you. Aren’t you going to get up?”

Was his stamina already depleted? This demon, despite being a demon, was lying on his back on the ground, showing no intention of getting up. Just in case, I healed him and applied several buffs, but he didn’t budge.

“Hey, you haven’t even seen Phase 2 yet. Get up quickly. Don’t you see the kids waiting?”

Even when I braced myself for a hit, approached him, and poked him with my foot, he remained sprawled. Pilgod didn’t respond to my words, just stared blankly, then suddenly began to weep piteously.

“Did I… did I come to the surface for this… What is… what is the meaning of any of this…!!”

“I told you to stop crying and attack!”

I even handed him his rolling club, but he didn’t attack. Instead, he just hugged his club and wailed.

“Hey, stop crying and get up and attack, okay? Seriously, this is my last warning. It’s a shame, but I’ll just hit you with a 24-hit aerial combo and then we’ll move to Phase 2, okay?”

“If I! If I awaken to the next stage! What else are you going to do?! Stop it! You’re worse than a demon, you bastard! Even demons don’t act as mercilessly as you do!”

“Why would I care about a demon’s circumstances? Are you really not going to get up? Do you want to die?”

“Kill me… Just kill me… I was wrong about everything…”

This was troublesome. I sighed, watching Pilgod sob, sprawled on the ground.

“Ah, I needed to land an aerial combo perfectly with the Phase 2 event cutscene for it to look cool.”

“Kill me! Just kill me! What did we do so wrong? Because of you, we haven’t seen any humans for a thousand years, except for you! If we could at least go down to the surface, I wouldn’t even complain!”

“Can’t be helped then. I’ll just roughly kill him like this, and once he awakens to Phase 2, I’ll have to teach him how to fight while chained up.”

At my words, Pilgod flinched and snatched up his club. Huh? Was he going to attack? I rolled backward, creating distance, and raised my shield, but Pilgod hit himself over the head with it!

“Hey, hey, what are you doing! You’re supposed to hit me!”

I wanted to stop him, but he was surprisingly quick when it came to this. Pilgod shattered his own head and collapsed. From Pilgod’s corpse, a pitch-black aura swirled, his limbs twisted and crumpled, and something began to crawl out.

“I wonder if it’s okay to show this… Anyway, this is Phase 2. In the first stage, he’s wearing a giant’s corpse, but once that’s defeated, his true form crawls out like this. And then…”

A ghostly wail echoed from somewhere. An unpleasant wind, thick and cloying, brushed against my skin. I gripped my sword tighter, crouched, and prepared to attack, but Pilgod’s movements were strange.

“Huh? As soon as he comes out, guided magic should be pouring in from all directions, right? Hey, hey! Where are you going?!”

That large, grotesque, shadow-like entity neither attacked me nor cast any spells. As soon as it emerged, it rapidly crawled towards the stone altar it had burst from. It was faster than anything I had ever seen. I urgently chased after the creature.

“Pilgod! Where are you going? I still need to show you how to attack a spiritual body!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m just going back to hell! You won’t be there, will you, you bastard!”

“Even if you’re going to hell, at least take a few more hits first! The kids are watching!”

“You filthy, dog-like spawn! Don’t you dare come to hell! Hmph, spit!”

What was he even saying? I belatedly cast a speed-boosting spell and ran, but Pilgod had already climbed onto the stone altar. There, he tore open his own chest, pulled out a pitch-black heart, and burst it, dying instantly.

I could only stand there, utterly dumbfounded, like a dog that had chased a chicken only to see it fly away.

“Why is he acting like that?”

[The Empty Hero ‘I Want to Bang Faust’ has defeated the Twisted Pilgod. This achievement will be announced under your recently used alias, ‘Haut’.]

The clear condition was met. Turning around, I saw the three by the entrance, enveloped in brilliant light, sparkling brightly. One, two… five level-ups. Yet, the novice sprout icon was still there.

It was truly full of mysteries. The demon had run away on its own, and these kids, whom I’d vaguely thought were weak, still had their novice sprout icons despite leveling up five times. What on earth was their original level? Could they really have all been Level 1 at the very beginning?

I didn’t know. For now, should I check what rewards dropped?

I climbed onto the stone altar. On it lay Pilgod’s dropped Demon’s Mark, a pouch of gold coins, and five or six chunks of pitch-black diamonds.

“Still, not a bad reward for an introductory boss.”

Behind the stone altar, a proper reward chest awaited. Inside were three thousand gold, various miscellaneous gems, and five or six high-grade potions. They were valuable, but ultimately unremarkable. For me, who had an abundance of money, they weren’t particularly necessary.

I placed all the rewards into my inventory, keeping only the Demon’s Mark and the money in my hand, and descended again. As I dispelled the barrier, all three of them slumped to the ground. They did so simultaneously, as if by unspoken agreement. Were their legs tired from standing so long? I distributed the gold into their hands.

Then, with a somber expression, I apologized to the three of them.

“Kids, I’m sorry. Next time, I’ll show you someone who can last a bit longer.”

At my words, the three of them began to sob loudly into the air, without speaking. Like little children. Why were they acting like this?

The kids hadn’t eaten. I suggested we stay the night, thinking they must be tired, but they cried and fussed so much about wanting to leave immediately that I had no choice but to take them out. We had to camp in the forest.

I wasn’t sure of the exact time, but the sun was already high in the sky, and they were practically crawling, on the verge of collapsing, so there was nothing else to do. It seemed like a night had passed. It didn’t feel like we had played for long.

“Why is Jack like that?”

He was groaning even in his sleep. I tried healing him, wondering if he was sick, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Nocturne was also sweating and whimpering in his sleep. Before me, only Faust remained, his face gaunt and pale, his eyes vacant.

“Do you want something to eat, at least? You guys shouldn’t go hungry.”

“Sir Haut, are you… alright?”

“About what?”

“Fighting with… the demons.”

There was no ‘alright’ or ‘not alright’ about it. I simply laughed.

“Of course. What are you talking about?”

“I, we… were overwhelmed just by watching.”

Faust was fiddling with his hands, restless. Hmm, shouldn’t he eat something? He said he wouldn’t, but I was still concerned. I took a bottle of strawberry juice from my inventory and placed it in Faust’s hand.

“Drink this, at least. It’s delicious.”

Faust looked at the strawberry juice I’d given him for a while, then took out the metal cup hanging from his waist pouch. He poured the strawberry juice into it and offered it to me.

“I would appreciate it if you would drink with me.”

“Thank you. You’re truly kind.”

It was genuinely rewarding to travel with good-aligned characters. Most NPCs would simply accept items without much gratitude. Occasionally, they’d ask if I had anything for them, but they never offered anything in return.

“I’ve never received anything before.”

Items aren’t meant to be shared; they’re usually singular. When I smiled and took the cup, Faust made another strange expression.

“Why, how, can you be alright?”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Could you explain it a bit more clearly if there’s something you want to tell me?”

At my words, Faust suddenly started crying. Why was he crying now? I fumbled in my inventory, pulling out a towel, but he didn’t take it, only continued to weep.

“What kind of life is it… to neither eat nor drink, nor sleep? What is it like to hunt only demons through those long hours, unknown to anyone? What is it to fight solely for the happiness of someone you don’t even know…? I don’t understand.”

“That’s just my job. I save, I work, I fight. That’s what a player does.”

“I believe in God, and I am a priest of God… but I don’t understand. I can’t comprehend it.”

“Why are you crying? You even received a Stigmata. Your place in Hamman’s Paradise is guaranteed now. Hunting demons isn’t that difficult. You saw it earlier. You guys can do it too, soon…”

“We can’t… We, that kind of thing…”

Hmm, I thought I’d shown them an easy way, but for some reason, were they scared? NPCs are usually supposed to be happy after defeating a demon, but perhaps because he’s good-aligned, or maybe it’s his original setting, he just seems more distressed.

I got up from my spot and sat down next to Faust. Then, from my inventory, I pulled out a ‘Fluffy Wool Cloak’ and draped it over Faust’s shoulders.

“Is it because you don’t want to hunt demons?”

“I’m scared. And… and…”

“It’s okay. It’ll be over soon. No more demons will appear after this. Once we defeat this one, there’ll be no more demons left. You don’t need to suffer like this, I promise. And when you return, you’ll be heroes.”

“What about you?”

You really are a good kid. Bebe asked that once too. I burst into laughter.

“I’ll leave. To somewhere.”

“Didn’t you say you would die last time?”

“They say death is just another journey, don’t they?”

I drained the strawberry juice in my hand in one gulp. A sweet flavor burst in my mouth. This was delicious too. Before, it was just sugar water with a strawberry scent, but now it tasted like real strawberries.

“I’m not asking you to fight right away. I’ll have you do it slowly, after you’ve grown a bit. Was it scary when I told you to try parrying today? Was the demon too close?”

“Sir Haut, weren’t you afraid?”

“At first, yes. But that doesn’t really matter, does it? No one will care about that.”

A clumsy death, a humiliating defeat—such plays only invite ridicule. In reality and in games, only the outcome matters. No one cares about the process.

“I wanted you to experience it, but I didn’t realize you’d dislike it this much. From now on, I’ll only have you observe. For now, we still need to share the experience points. You also need to train your eyes by watching.”

“Do we… have that much value to you?”

I patted Faust’s back.

“I told you before. You were the first ones to come save me.”

Players work for NPCs. They must save, fight, and accomplish. In no event do NPCs ever help the player. Companions are merely beings who accompany me and follow my commands. Because that’s how the game works.

“That made me happy. So you are more than valuable enough.”

I cast a sleep spell on Faust. I took the bottle from his hand and caught him as he began to fall backward.

“You guys are good kids.”

Fighting demons must have been too difficult for them still. From now on, I’ll have to slowly help them grow by running through low-difficulty dungeons. The kids are much weaker than I imagined.

When will I ever raise them all?