The Foregone Conclusion

As I pointed toward the door to emphasize my words, Faust and the others turned deathly pale, their jaws dropping in shock. Among them, Faust was the first to regain his composure, shouting out.

“How many are there?! What’s the distance?!”

“An incalculable number, sir! I can’t precisely estimate the distance, but they’re just below the hillside road! Less than 500 meters, I’d say!”

“Everyone, arm yourselves! Some of you, evacuate the villagers, and the rest…”

Faust swallowed hard, his gaze sweeping over the Silver Knights. He struggled to complete his sentence.

“The rest of you, block them here.”

‘What is this? Wasn’t this village supposed to be utterly destroyed?’

‘Oh, right. After I killed Medusa, even if the knights arrived here, they were all meant to die anyway, with only Faust escaping. If that’s the case, it makes sense that there haven’t been any reports until now. Even if someone else had discovered this, the outcome wouldn’t have changed, so they likely just skipped mentioning the route deviation.’

Faust turned his head toward me, his gaze intense. A profound desperation was etched within his eyes.

“Can you fight?”

‘I know I should fight alongside them to raise my favorability, but it just feels like too much trouble. Hacking through trash mobs isn’t fun, and it only gets messy. No matter how hard I fight, everything’s going to go to hell anyway. I just can’t muster the enthusiasm.’

“Let’s just run. We don’t know how many are coming, and we’re out of time. If there are that many, even if a few of us stay to hold them off, we’ll eventually be overwhelmed. The villagers, led by an even smaller group, will be massacred without a chance, won’t they? It would be better to gather all our forces and focus on escape.”

“But most of these villagers won’t be able to move quickly enough to escape! Some will inevitably be left behind…!”

“So you’d rather let everyone die? You can’t save everyone, Sir Faust.”

‘He’s surprisingly soft, unnecessarily kind. Someone once said in an analysis that he’d have a ‘Justice Alignment’ trait, and it seems they were right, or at least close.’

A loud, wailing sound, audible even to me, echoed from the distance. Everyone began to tremble, gripped by terror at the ominous noise.

‘Nameless demons aren’t particularly fast. Slightly better than ghouls, perhaps? Still, they can’t be ignored. One wrong hit, and you’re immediately cursed, dying in excruciating pain from the resulting status effects.’

‘Their damage output is also quite strong. Beginners can die in just two or three hits. Even seasoned veterans with high durability often get beaten senseless if they’re unlucky enough to suffer from status effects.’

‘They said these demons were weaker than trolls, but a troll can go toe-to-toe with a small dragon to begin with.’

“You… didn’t you say you killed a boss-level demon? With that kind of skill…!”

“A boss, no matter how strong, is still just one. And I am also one. Regardless of our individual strengths, it’s a fair fight. But you said there were many of these? Surviving alone wouldn’t be difficult for me. However, I can’t fight while protecting this many people.”

‘If I die, will I get to retry? I don’t know. Considering I didn’t regenerate while in Medusa’s sanctuary, the respawn mod is clearly not active right now.’

‘The Faust here is a character who was reset because the respawn mod activated. He’s someone I wasn’t originally meant to meet. By the game’s design, he’ll somehow survive. So, it wouldn’t really matter if he died.’

‘After all, the Faust who gave me the Medusa subjugation quest in the Holy War will still be there. This Faust here is just an event character, isn’t he? I merely intruded upon a pre-scripted data line. Even if they’re described as the same character, their underlying code is entirely distinct.’

‘The Faust I knew was, by design, one of the strongest characters in the game. He wasn’t supposed to be this weak.’

“It can’t be changed. This place is going to be utterly ravaged.”

I had no intention of defending this place as Faust requested. At best, I would only put on a show.

‘If Bishya isn’t reduced to ruins, then the story’s design—the trigger for realizing the severity of the demon threat—will vanish. I can’t protect it anyway; this event was designed from the outset to play out this way.’

“So you’re saying we should just stand by and watch everyone die? While only we survive?”

“No, I didn’t say that much. Let’s at least take care of the villagers who can still move. Some will live. They might never be able to return to this village. It’s impossible to resettle a place that demons have swept through, after all. Still, isn’t that better than everyone dying?”

I sighed.

“Hamman’s priests are believers, but they’re also your subordinates, your comrades. Probably your friends, too. Aren’t you the one throwing a tantrum out of fear right now? If you can’t protect everyone, then at least make smart choices. We need to save at least one more life.”

‘Justice-aligned types really don’t mesh well with me. They’re too stubborn to reason with. Even though I know it’s for game progression, it’s still incredibly annoying.’

Even amidst this, the sound grew steadily louder. They would be upon us in minutes. Though the hill leading to the village was steep and the path narrow, they were undoubtedly climbing steadily, no matter how slow their pace.

“Alright, then let’s do this. I’ll stay here. You all quickly gather the villagers and get out.”

“No, Sir Haut, that’s…!”

“As you said, I can take down a boss-level creature alone. You think a few trash mobs are going to stop me? We don’t have time for this. Hurry up and get out!”

‘This place becoming ruins is a foregone conclusion. I can’t stop it, and even if I did, it would ultimately be pointless. However, letting Faust die like this would be problematic. I still want to raise his favorability and see what rewards he gives.’

‘I respawn even if I die. I know it hurts like hell, and it’s scary, but it’s not truly the end. I can at least strike a pose, can’t I?’

I gave Faust a wry smile.

“Go, quickly. I’ll catch up once I’ve cleared them out.”

Then, from my inventory, I retrieved a carefully chosen sword. It was an item I rarely took out, deeming it too precious, but I thought it might make me look cool for once.

[ “Sword of Repentance” – One-Handed Sword / Legendary

Damage 32 / Weight 3 / Value 2400 / Durability 89(100)

Equip Restriction: Cannot be used by Evil or Chaotic Evil alignments / Cannot be used by evil derivative classes such as Vampires or Necromancers.

Description: This sword was wielded by the most noble being to curse their fallen children. Make the hounds of hell understand true suffering.

Crafted from glass stone, this sword is as transparent and beautiful as glass, yet harder than steel. It will not melt even in a dragon’s breath, and nothing can defile it.

Additional Effects: Charm +50 / Favorability +20 for Good-aligned characters / Favorability -50~70 for Evil-aligned characters / Never gets dirty / Demon Blood Resistance +10% / Bonus Damage to Demons +50% / Random Status Effect to Demons +5% (Bleed, Stun) / Merely equipping it grants Fear and Attention effects to demons (Stealth cannot be used/is dispelled in front of demons).

Enchantment Effect: Currently enchanted with Frost / Freezes enemies. Enemies 5 levels or more below the wielder cannot resist. ]

‘The additional effects included bonus damage against demons. Since I’m max level and have One-Handed Sword Mastery, I get an extra 15% correction. This means I can use overpowered abilities specifically against demons. With this, even high-HP demons are usually one-shotted. As for nameless demons, they’re nothing but paper. I rarely take it out, though, because repairs are incredibly tricky.’

“Sir Haut, do you not have any armor?”

“Armor? Honestly, it feels like a bit of a waste.”

“But your life is on the line now.”

“Why are you so interested in my clothes all the time?”

“That sword looks truly magnificent, but…”

The man rolled his eyes, then sighed as he finished his sentence.

“Seeing you in your underwear, wielding such a renowned sword… it’s… well…”

“Just go already!”

‘If I could use area-of-effect skills with a fork, I wouldn’t have even taken this out.’

‘Originally, the less armor you wore, the stronger you became.’

‘Only clumsy fools bother with such things. Why wear armor if you can just avoid getting hit? For a true warrior, being in their underwear is the natural state, isn’t it?’

“But Faust might be right.”

‘This is a first-time event, so it’s probably going to save a cutscene. I guess it wouldn’t look very cool if I’m dressed like this.’

Faust and the others were already gone. The wailing grew steadily, albeit slowly, louder. It was the cries of nameless demons.

‘Is their path uphill, making them slower? I have more time than I thought.’

From my inventory, I pulled out a set of armor that was decent-looking enough to wear and then discard. It was a common leather heavy armor set. Nothing special; just an average set of leather armor with some iron plating. It came as a four-piece set: top, bottom, shoes, and gloves.

It was only one step higher in quality than the raw leather armor bandits wore. Bandit leaders often sported such attire, as it gave off a barbarian warrior vibe.

‘Should I change my weapon? No, I don’t have much holy water right now.’

‘I can just discard the armor set, but weapons are a different story. To use area-of-effect skills, I need to equip at least an intermediate-grade weapon.’

‘Though my skills, stats, and proficiency would provide some correction, swinging a cheap tin sword wouldn’t utilize its full potential, making it as good as useless. Besides, I don’t even possess cheap tin swords. Any I have are either enchanted or named items. I only keep one of each different-looking weapon for collection purposes.’

‘What a hassle. It would be great if clothes could auto-equip and unequip. I should’ve installed a mod.’

After I had laboriously changed, I saw the Silver Knights scrambling everywhere, carrying people.

It seemed they were physically carrying the elderly and infirm, who couldn’t move quickly enough.

“Huh? You had proper clothes after all!!”

“I have plenty of clothes. I just don’t usually need them.”

‘What was his name again? Jack? I rarely memorize the names of minor characters. I only remember him because he shouted at me, which was unusual.’

“Then why are you wearing them now?”

“Demons are right at our doorstep; is that really important right now?”

“Well, I mean… are you really staying behind alone?”

“Just go already, dammit! Do you actually want to die?!”

As I roared at him, the man, who had been hesitating between me and the villagers, quickly scurried away. I looked toward the direction of the sound. ‘The map isn’t active, so I can’t gauge it. But it sounds like there’s a huge number.’

‘Still, if there are a lot of them, it’ll be satisfying to land a flurry of attacks, won’t it?’

Equipping full gear for the first time in a while felt fresh, like my beginner days. With the chaotic village at my back, I sprinted toward where the demon horde was.

“Movement Speed Increase! Leap Enhancement!”

I usually don’t use these, but this time, I boosted my stats specifically to sweep away as many demons as possible in one go. Did you think I could use magic? Ha, of course I can. I just kept it dormant because it didn’t fit my concept.

‘Magic is too easy, and since my concept is a physical swordsman, I haven’t increased my mana pool, so I can only use large-scale spells once or twice. I only maxed out the skill levels to fill my collection. If you raise all types, you get the Sage title and a staff called One Who Reached the Heavens.’

‘It’s been a while since I’ve massacred anything, and the feeling is amazing! They’re so weak that they shatter with every swing, but since there are so many of them, it feels quite substantial!’