The face of one man kept lingering in my mind.
A face mottled with age spots. Deep wrinkles. Slit eyes smiling kindly and a graying beard.
The chairman of the Council of Elders, the one-horned demon Setian.
‘...Should’ve killed him.’
But there was no way to kill him.
By now, after multiple rounds of training, I’d gotten good at controlling my anger, but the darkness inside me couldn’t be helped. Every time I saw the old man’s face, the image of Homer Simpson choking his son would overlap in my head......
‘And it’s not just him.’
It was something I became more aware of while going back and forth to the royal palace. The demons had already wormed their way into the important sectors of human society and were working under the surface.
‘The demon war in [Hell Difficulty]...... isn’t just about a battle between me and the demons.’
This isn’t your typical game.
In most games, demons appear and the story revolves around fighting and killing them. But in this world, that’s not possible.
There are simply too many.
What I’ve discovered so far is just a tiny fraction. How am I supposed to deal with all the demons hiding in Holanche, Hitahita, or the Kreuz Kingdom?
Creatures like the one-horned demons might number three at most, but the single-horned ones would be in the dozens, and the hornless ones would reach into the thousands.
‘I can’t do this alone.’
The entire human race needs to rise up and strike them down.
To eradicate demons, a kind of collective madness is necessary.
Like how, during the coronavirus pandemic, every single mouth on the planet was covered with cloth.
‘We need to shift the paradigm.’
That is the fourth part of the main story.
「 Main Story 4 : Paradigm 」
With the Empire’s largest academic event, the [Soltia Conference], just around the corner, I was in the middle of writing a research paper on demons. I was at the final step of a seven-step process.
For the review phase, I needed a lot of materials related to demons. For example, demon horn powder.
“Come here.”
“......?”
So I grabbed Eve, who had recently returned from her first hero expedition—(normally, I conceal her with [Illusion])—and gently sanded the tip of her horn.
Shhk, shhk.
‘It strikes me again, what an unusual horn.’
Before getting into the use of the material, the material itself was unusual.
First off, it was heavy.
Eve’s body was already quite heavy due to demonification—her body’s density was different.
The horn weighed as much as a solid block of steel.
‘??’
That made me curious.
How heavy is she, actually?
I decided to find out.
“Step up.”
“......??”
Eve stepped onto the magic scale, then quietly stepped down.
So I put her back on it.
She got off again.
“Why do you keep stepping off?”
“......??”
“Come on. Get on. Stay there.”
When I forcibly put her on the scale?
She jumped off instantly. I didn’t know why.
But I wasn’t just curious about her weight. This was a rare chance to estimate the density of a demonized body.
“Come here.”
“.......”
So I lifted her up in a princess carry—and she was absurdly heavy.
I almost toppled forward. And this was even with my [Strength] stat being quite high.
I somehow managed to get her onto the scale, and the result was shocking.
Eve weighed exactly 530 kilograms.
She was around 165 cm tall, but weighed six times more than me, and I’m 190 cm and 90 kg.
Visually, she looked like she weighed maybe 50–60 kg.
This meant that demonification increased the density of human flesh by almost tenfold.
I’d probably never noticed because she had been distributing her weight so well when she moved.
Like how an elephant can step lightly on a person’s foot without crushing it.
‘Pig.’
‘???’
Eve blinked and gave me the finger. I shouldn’t have taught her that.
Anyway.
Back to the horn.
‘Of course it’s heavy too.’
It was nearly like steel.
If you put a sword to it, the blade would instantly dull. If you applied force, the whole sword would bend.
And it wouldn’t break either—meaning it had both high hardness and high toughness. Like an alloy.
It was far tougher than other demons’ horns. Even if I fired the 「Liberator⁺₊⋆」 at an angle, it would only get slightly warm.
If the horn had stuck out instead of curling neatly against her head like blood sausage from a snack bar, it could’ve been a dangerous headbutt weapon.
I used an ultra-expensive file made from diamond and 「Eternium∞」 to carefully sand it, and after going through 13 files, I managed to get about 10 grams of horn powder.
‘Pain?’
I asked with hand signs, and Eve shook her head.
‘None.’
I see.
Originally, the 「Holy Sword」 should’ve been obtained from the [Error Zone] of Starfall Mountain. But due to a bug, it had flown off and ended up at the Eternal’s auction.
Once I got the sword, Eve was free to access Starfall Mountain again.
So I brought her to the professor’s estate and left her with Ran.
From now on, Eve would be a valuable research subject, providing tons of data.
She was the only demon with a full personality.
That meant I could obtain data impossible to get from other demons.
‘Hand.’
‘No.’
‘Hand.’
‘No.’
‘.......’
A research subject that doesn’t listen very well.
‘Hand!’
‘I said no.’
Then again, I wasn’t exactly a cooperative researcher either.
And so I sanded the horn and ran tests, and I felt very satisfied.
“...Excellent data.”
All calculations lined up perfectly.
A sudden thought made me look around the laboratory.
The desk was filled with countless flasks and beakers. Several research journals lay scattered around.
The straight wall looked curved, and the ceiling connected to the wall, which connected to the floor.
And numerous [phantasmic constructs] were orbiting counterclockwise.
Here, I was putting together three research papers.
‘The past six months have been hell...’
They were dull and repetitive days.
Days spent holed up in the lab doing something or other, days when I wanted to set the place on fire at least once a day out of frustration.
Research is, by nature, like wandering a maze. It was that way in real life, and no different in the game.
At least with a maze, there’s the hope of an exit, but in research, even that’s uncertain. You keep wandering, not even knowing whether an exit exists.
At some point, you want to run away from the agony, but if you keep wracking your brain, there’s that one moment where you hear a snap.
Like a firework bursting.
Like puzzle pieces fitting together.
The feeling when two entirely unrelated things suddenly connect.
It’s a thrilling feeling for a researcher.
I’d been feeling that sensation lately.
‘Ah, great and mighty me, Dante Hiakapo.’
To think I would finally complete this grand achievement and these papers.
‘Mankind will someday gaze upon the world from the shoulders of the giant known as Dante Hiakapo. The whole world will tremble at that height and sing my praises...’
I was lost in ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) a trembling ecstasy when Eve made a hand gesture.
‘Food.’
She meant she was hungry.
“...Mm, alright.”
Forget the great research and all that—I decided to feed the elephant first.
Then another curiosity struck me.
‘How much does she eat?’
She had never once said she was full.
So this time, I dragged her around several restaurants, feeding her until she said she didn’t want any more, then checked her weight—Eve had eaten nearly 10% of her body weight in one sitting.
In other words, 53 kilograms.
‘Full, hehe.’
‘.......’
The fact that an average professor’s monthly salary went into that one meal was just a bonus.
***
Meanwhile, while continuing my research, I also took time here and there to check in on the movements of key individuals.
Many people’s lives were changing. Sometimes in ways completely different from the paths they had walked until now.
First, Rebecca.
– Rebecca: Professor Dante.
– Rebecca: I’ll try.
– Me: Try what.
– Rebecca: Why are you asking when you already know everything?
– Me: What is it.
– Me: I don’t know.
– Rebecca: ......
– Rebecca: Magic....
She had realized the possibilities within herself. And so she was sent to Ezekiel.
– Ezekiel: Hey golden rat. What the hell is this girl?
– Me: Is she doing well?
– Ezekiel: “Doing well”? That’s an understatement.
– Ezekiel: This kid’s talent is absolutely ridiculous. Even calling her a genius doesn’t cut it—she’s picking up magic at an absurd pace.
– Ezekiel: What the hell is going on here?
Even the great mage Ezekiel, himself praised as a genius, was shocked by his niece’s sudden and overwhelming talent.
– Me: I’ll leave her in your care.
When it came to magic, he was the expert, not me.
Next were Lan and Adelle.
“I’ve finished the final draft.”
“Ah, I’m finishing my revisions today~!”
They each wrote papers—one on “Demonic Curses” and the other on “Curses of Demons”—and those papers would be submitted to academia after passing my review.
These were also going out under the name of the Dante Research Lab.
For now, since the term “demon” doesn’t officially exist yet, it was written under the label of “something completely different pretending to be human.”
“I’ll do the review.”
That was my job as well.
Meanwhile, the trio from the Dante assassination squad had been released from my oversight and were now freely taking on assassination requests across the Empire, stirring up waves within the Duke League.
They were even making regular appearances in the Assassin Daily.
< Assassin, “Glass Retriever,” sets record for most successful missions in shortest time >
That was Elise’s alias. In just three months, she had successfully assassinated 117 criminal organizations and still hadn’t been caught.
She was now being called the new “god of assassination” in the Empire.
< 23rd Winner of the Empire’s Sniper Assassination Association International Tournament – Black Dog >
Balmung had won a prestigious tournament purely through sniping skills and was being revered by the Empire’s people.
< Only One Graduate of HFC Combat Assassination Special Forces Training... A Monster Assassin from Hiaka >
Kendrick had completed the training course of the Burning Constellation: Flame. Out of 270 trainees, he was the only one to finish.
‘They’re doing well.’
I had let them go because they couldn’t stay within my protection forever—but they had exceeded expectations.
‘But still too slow.’
All of them needed to reach Challenger level within a year.
Meanwhile, Grey had started walking a completely different path from them.
After being pushed out by me during the battle with the Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆ Agion,
Grey had been wearing a gloomy expression ever since.
Then one day, she called me and asked,
‘Professor... I’m a bit behind the others, right?’
I hesitated, wondering how to answer.
Grey smiled.
‘Actually... I already knew.’
‘Back when Elise and I made the tree during finals... even before that, when I sparred with the others... I realized I couldn’t keep up.’
The gap between potential [2.7] and [2.8] may seem like just 0.1, but it’s an impossible chasm to cross. Grey understood that clearly.
‘Rather than drag everyone down... maybe I should quit the assassination squad...’
The next time I saw her was at the assistant professor recruitment interview.
“Applicant No. 11 for the Department of Illusion Studies. Please enter.”
With the department head Shaman and two senior professors beside me, applicant 11 carefully opened the door and walked in.
It was Grey.
She wasn’t wearing her cadet uniform, but a formal suit instead—looking incredibly awkward.
She hadn’t yet fulfilled her graduation or work experience requirements, but I used loopholes and special appointments to push her in.
At the very least, her understanding and research in [Illusion] exceeded that of most regular professors.
“Hello. I’m Grey Habanero.”
I decided to lay the groundwork so that Grey could begin researching her unique illusion system, including 『Glass Butterfly』.
“I’ll do my best.”
Grey’s expression, which had been gloomy for so long, was now bright and cheerful.
Besides that, Baron-to-be Kaiser had achieved great feats in the Empire and officially received his title.
The head professor of the Magic Department, Gallois, suddenly resigned from teaching for some reason.
And the idiot trio ended up in the media as “kind-hearted Hiakans” after helping an elderly woman injured in a traffic accident in the Empire (??,,).
While everyone was finding their own given paths,
There were still some who hadn’t.
That afternoon.
I received a sudden urgent call from one of the dispatched assassins stationed in Kreuz.
– Professor. I think you need to come quickly.
He was an assassin from the academy whom I had previously sent to spy on the Hero.
“What’s going on?”
– Glory has been wrongfully imprisoned.
– The people in Kreuz detained her on an absurd charge, and I honestly have no way to intervene...
I got to my feet.