The Forgotten Conqueror

‘What is with this atmosphere?’

Kabra, having taken a counter from me, collapsed to the floor and began to sob uncontrollably.

“I purposefully came all the way from the south… just to see this again…. What is my demon life even for…?”

“Hey, just attack. Why are you pulling out these nonexistent moves and making a fuss? Our kids are watching, you know. Seriously, why is every demon I meet like this?”

The demons attacking Jack and Faust also began to subtly retreat, casting wary glances. ‘Did they even possess that level of intelligence? Weren’t they supposed to just charge mindlessly on sight? Can they actually assess a situation?’

‘Never mind. It’s not like strange things haven’t happened before. Just let it be.’ I gently nudged Kabra with my foot.

“Hey, hey, you have to do something before you die. Are you just going to lie there and give up? If you just disappear this time, I’ll grind you into dust when you respawn next.”

“Why is this human so strong?! We even cut off the path and gave up our Authority of Reincarnation, thinking the power gap would be several times wider, and it would be fine!”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, but let’s rethink that for a moment. I’ve already defeated you with just a fork while naked. What difference will increased stats make, besides maybe more HP? Or perhaps you could at least show me some interesting new patterns.”

‘These kids just don’t get it. Some of us deliberately fight with a puny attack stat of 1, using a fork that doesn’t even get skill stat bonuses, just to avoid dealing too much damage. So what if demon stats go up? It’ll just be a bit more HP.’

‘Besides, merely raising stats isn’t always good. Suddenly boosting numbers can mess up their attack patterns. Look, he’s not even attacking, just crying. Completely broken and turned into an idiot.’

“Human, couldn’t I just give you my horns and wings here, if you’d just let me go willingly…?”

‘Now he’s even trying to negotiate? Why would I avoid a fight when I can win?’

“I’ll truly be good… Ugh…. I’ll go quietly. I’m just in so much pain. You boiled me to death, fried me to death, sliced me into sashimi, stripped me naked and drew on my body before killing me…. And last time you killed me, you fried me in holy water, didn’t you? It’s just too much. Please, just kill me gently!”

“Ah. Was that you? There were so many, I couldn’t keep track.”

“You’re more demonic than any demon…!”

Unlike leaders, named monsters are generated randomly. There’s no telling what, when, or where they’ll appear. Yet, I know it all. After all, I’ve been hunting demons constantly. If I encountered a rare one, I’d save and load, killing it dozens, even hundreds of times.

‘Why do such a thing when they only drop an item once? Because you never know when they’ll appear again. Since it’s already here, I want to conduct various experiments, gather a lot of information, and enjoy it for a long, diverse time.’

While it’s uncommon for them to reappear immediately after being killed, my tendency to kill them thoroughly and evenly meant a relatively high frequency of duplicate spawns.

“It seems you were also the one I stripped and scribbled ‘Ramen is self-service’ on. I think I’m starting to remember now.”

“What in the world! I don’t know what you wrote, but it wouldn’t wash off, so I ended up dying once because of it…!”

“You would have died anyway. I also inscribed a scripture to the Goddess of the Dawn Star in ancient language, so you wouldn’t have been able to endure it.”

‘Since I had stripped him, I felt compelled to write something humiliating. It’s a common trope in adult comics, isn’t it? Drawing various indecent scribbles on a naked body.’

‘Of course, I didn’t do anything overtly lewd or obscene as others might imagine. I wanted to create a scene where I cooked ramen in front of a corpse, but since ramen didn’t exist in the game, I once made deer stew, ate it, and took a screenshot instead.’

“Um, Sir Haut—. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if the battle’s over, could you please put me down?”

Turning around, I saw Nocturne speaking with a pained voice from a distance. ‘Ah, right, I hung him on a torch stand earlier because it was bothersome.’ I shook my head.

“No. Just wait a bit longer, just in case. Just because I might underestimate them doesn’t mean they’re truly pathetic.”

“Then at least drink a potion.”

“Why?”

‘My health hasn’t dropped much; it feels like a waste to use one.’ When I tilted my head, Nocturne’s face crumpled.

“Seeing a naked man with a chest split wide open and covered in blood just makes my own flesh ache, you know.”

“This much is nothing, is it? It’ll close up if you leave it. I told you, saliva will heal it.”

“I’m just worried your insides might spill out. Your body is split in half; who says saliva will heal that?”

Nocturne deflated like wilted lettuce. ‘My health has only dropped by a tenth; I don’t know why he’s making such a fuss.’ Meanwhile, I stomped firmly on Kabra’s wing, preventing him from subtly crawling away.

“Aren’t you going to get up? Where are you going to escape to!? At least try using your specialty magic. Our kids don’t even know magic defense, so there’s a lot to show them.”

“If I… if I fight properly… will you let me go honorably in the end…?”

“Hmm… I’d also like to demonstrate various techniques, you see….”

At my words, Kabra burst out, shouting.

“How much more do you intend to humiliate me?! You’ve done enough! Lord Zeras of Lamentation can’t even sleep in hell because of you!”

“Was your affiliation with him? Weren’t you with ‘Hildeberang the Furious’?”

“Why does a human bastard like you know more about demon lineage than demons themselves!?”

“You seem to have enough presence of mind to worry about another’s leader. Get up.”

“W-wait! You have to answer me!”

I paused to consider. ‘What if this one also commits suicide like the Pilgod? Then I wouldn’t get the item properly, nor could I show off the kill. The loss would be immense.’

“By any chance, when do you next respawn?”

“I can’t reappear! I can’t! I used up all my power cutting off your path, so I can’t reappear now! And neither can the others!”

“Named monsters can’t reappear… Is that true?”

“Have you lived your whole life being deceived?! Demons, at the very least, don’t lie! We’re different from humans!”

“That’s true. At the very least, they don’t deceive. They just don’t speak.”

As I lifted my foot from Kabra’s wing and stepped back, he cautiously scrambled to his feet. From my inventory, I pulled out a decent mithril armor set and a sword, offering them.

“Y-you mean you’ll do it properly?”

“It’s partly out of pity for your plea… and partly because, upon reflection, I might have been too harsh. Honestly, even if what you just said was a lie and you reappear, I could just peel your skin off alive, pickle you in a salt barrel, then fry you in holy water while continuously healing you just enough to scream. So, it probably wouldn’t matter anyway.”

“You fiend! Even demons don’t go that far!”

“You shatter human skulls like cracking open snacks, but I’m not allowed to do that?”

Where I gestured, corpses of those who had been fleeing moments ago, their necks torn by demons, lay scattered. The nameless demons, standing awkwardly, exchanged glances, then suddenly began frantically scratching their own throats.

‘I wonder what’s gotten into them now.’

Black bodily fluids sprayed. As a startled Jack and Faust scrambled back, the heads of the demons, which had been frantically scratching and tearing at their own necks, dangled precariously before dropping off entirely.

It was absurd. A futile death. The fallen demons scattered black smoke, tumbled across the ground, melted away, and vanished, leaving behind only black ooze.

‘I was going to use those for our kids’ practice….’

‘What a waste.’ Perhaps because I’d seen demons commit suicide before, I felt little emotion. I just didn’t know why they were doing it. When I looked back at Kabra, the demon, now standing, flinched.

“Kabra, can you summon a few more?”

“In th-this situation, I can’t summon anymore. I, too, was summoned here… so I lack the necessary causality.”

“It would have been great if you had come from the start; then I could have kept summoning them.”

“Even I can’t summon infinitely, though.”

“Right. With your level of magic power, twelve at most is probably your limit.”

“How do you know that…?”

“It’s not like this is my first rodeo.”

Then, a sudden realization made me inadvertently laugh.

“Kabra, isn’t it funny?”

“What is, pray tell?”

“Humans have forgotten me.”

Those inside the buildings, on the rooftops, beyond that path. Even Jack, Faust, and Nocturne, who were so close by. ‘I find it truly amusing.’

“Isn’t it entertaining? Not a single human remembers me. My dearest Bebe passed away long ago, and my cherished Bodangbo is trapped in the sewers. Our Rabi was treated as a mere tool, arbitrarily summoned by some human emperor. Debora’s sanctuary, which I built, lies in ruins. Humans have forgotten everything I did, including me.”

‘NPCs don’t need to remember everything, but they still have an obligation to remember. That’s how players feel a sense of accomplishment.’

‘Every game has an obligation to remember the player’s achievements.’

‘But now, it’s not like that. No one knows. No one remembers. My very name cannot be properly called, nor heard, and it is denied.’

‘What kind of game is this?’

I donned my armor and grasped my sword. ‘I feel strangely sad. Is it because my chest is pierced, due to the effects of the Void, or something else entirely?’

“The humans I saved deny me, yet you, who have witnessed tens of thousands of deaths, recognize and remember me. I find it an unfamiliar feeling.”

I cast a healing spell on Kabra, and clothes reappeared on his naked body. Kabra looked at me with a strange expression, then floated up slightly. Just a little, rising to about the height of a single step, facing me.

“Human. What is your name?”

‘Name. Name. Name. You won’t know my name either, in the end. Even if I say it, you won’t hear it.’

“[I Want to Bang Faust.]”

“What is that?”

I could only hear Jack and Faust gasp. Kabra, too, seemed unable to comprehend.

“[***.]”

“…That, too, I cannot know.”

“Then it can’t be helped. Just call me Haut of the Void.”

“Haut, of the Void….”

Kabra spread his arms wide. Simultaneously, the air filled densely with countless ice shards, enough to crowd the entire space.

“Haut of the Void, it has been a long encounter. I will not forget your name.”

“Forget it. It’s fine. It means nothing.”

‘It’s just an in-game nickname, after all. Why would anyone remember something like that?’

I lowered my stance and gripped my sword. The clanking of heavy armor, the only sound accompanying the sword and armor devoid of any special options, grated softly on my ears. Then, countless ice shards began to rush towards me.