...What just happened?
No, I know what happened. A human body popped like a balloon, didn't it?
But I didn't want that to happen.
[I shall give you my soul, so become my strength!]
—Matthias, 43 years old, male, Level 24, Title: Usurper.
The moment that bastard's blood touched my body, unwanted information flooded in haphazardly. It felt similar to when the being called Faust had been forcibly crammed into my head earlier.
So... not wanting to experience that pain again, I thrashed around by conditioned reflex. Just like how saliva pools in your mouth when you think of a lemon.
'Could that have been the cause?'
Did Matthias explode and die because of me...?
...I'm going crazy.
I should definitely feel guilty, but I don't.
The morals and ethics I was born with, the morals and ethics I learned growing up from my parents and school—all of it feels completely denied.
It's like killing an NPC in a game; I truly don't feel anything at all.
Could it be... is this really a world inside a game?
Given that I've become Faust, a raid boss, it's certainly possible... no, no way. There's no way they could make the graphics this high.
'If they did something like that, the file size would easily exceed several hundred terabytes, and it wouldn't possibly run as a game.'
More than anything, it's too realistic.
Not just Matthias, whom I saw moments ago, but the pissing—no, the elf's appearance and reaction, and the surroundings turned into a complete mess—no matter how I look at it, this can only be reality.
Besides, I already know through 'Faust' that this isn't a simple game, a world made of digital data.
[The contract is different!! Didn't you clearly say you would save me?!]
[Indeed, I saved you. I saved you, so what exactly is the problem? Look, see how you're perfectly fine even against holy-type healing magic? Is that not clearly alive?]
[That... what...]
'...Kuh.'
My head feels like it's going to split open.
Faust's memories are completely ransacking my head.
I had only created a bare-bones setting, yet seeing that he possesses such vivid memories, it seems Faust was completed splendidly not just in appearance but in story as well.
And that completed story is now causing me severe pain.
...If I had known I would come to a world similar to a game, I should have worked on the development team for a bright, cheerful game.
Fzzzt—!
Kwaaang—!!
"Sh-shoot more!"
To think I'd receive such a hostile welcome.
Since I had made a person explode to death right before my eyes and my appearance is extremely sinister, I was frightened and came outside to leave the elf alone... but unfortunately, outside was even worse.
Every person in sight is hostile toward me and pouring attacks. And attacks of all kinds at that.
"Why... why on earth...!"
"Hurry and call more people!! The barrier is about to break!!"
"The mages here are all we've got!"
No... I didn't do anything.
I was going to leave far away because I thought people would hate me if I stayed here, so how can they block me from doing that?
More than anything, these bastards are so weak that I can't even carelessly touch them.
It's like looking at a tower made of playing cards; if I touch it wrong, it'll collapse and they'll die.
So I was trying to get out without causing any harm, carefully touching only the barrier... but things got twisted because these bastards are betting their lives too much on the barrier.
If I break the barrier, the mages desperately focusing on it will suffer a backlash, and something truly terrible will happen.
'Maybe not as bad as Matthias, but wouldn't they end up looking horrific enough?'
...Of course, this function didn't exist in Noah.
If a skill-made barrier breaks, it just breaks. What kind of backlash would damage the player?
'Faust's' memories and instincts are telling me that such a future will occur.
I'm really going crazy...
"I don't understand."
"Don't listen! Everyone cover your ears!!"
Now they're giving me the silent treatment too.
I was going to tell them to stop this and step aside since I'll just leave quietly, but they all don't seem to want to hear my words.
I can feel similar mana around their ears, so it seems they're using sound-blocking magic.
Well, it feels pretty bad, but I think it's understandable enough.
In Noah's setting, demons bewitch victims with incantation magic, so if this world is exactly like Noah, of course they'd be wary of what I say.
It would only be normal to not even try to converse.
But the elf just now didn't do that...
Uh... hmm... well, let's make an exception for that.
"Such tricks are useless."
"Wha—?!"
As my voice mixed with mana pierced through the defensive magic and reached their eardrums, almost everyone in sight jumped in extreme shock.
Should I say it's sad or fortunate? Although it hasn't been even a few hours since I became Faust, I've perfectly adapted to this body, and thanks to that, mixing mana into my voice to pierce defensive magic is as simple as breathing.
I tried it just in case... and it really pierced through.
"Dispel the defensive magic. You should know very well that I am showing mercy."
"..."
Even though my words must be reaching them properly, no one answers.
It seems everyone here doesn't want to talk with a demon. With so many people, you'd think at least one would try to strike up a conversation.
...What was with that elf just now, really?
They talked to me openly so I thought something was up, but then they got scared... ugh.
"If I smash the barrier like this, you bastards will die pathetically where you stand. This is your last chance. Dispel the defensive magic."
"..."
The mages maintaining the defensive magic visibly waver. Some openly turn their heads to look at the one who seems to be the leader of this group.
Could they have never imagined such words coming from a demon's mouth?
"...What do you want."
Oh, I can finally talk.
The knight appearing to be the leader receives everyone's gaze, closes his eyes briefly, then soon asks me a question.
The shock on the faces of the countless people around is clearly visible, and some even try to dissuade that knight, but he firmly ignores the reactions around him and glares at me.
"What I want..."
...How should I answer?
I just want to look around outside a bit, but from their perspective, a demon—no less, the final raid boss—wandering the world is clearly a catastrophic disaster they can never tolerate.
Of course, I could just ignore them and pass through the barrier, but still, if possible, isn't it better to save lives?
Then it would be better to hide my purpose and answer. I'll just make up some excuse.
"Tell me what year it is and what this kingdom is called."
"...What?"
"If you tell me that, I shall peacefully leave this kingdom."
As my words finish, the knight visibly wavers.
...Huh?
I'm just asking for the year and location.
Ah, is it not wavering but bewilderment?
Well, they must have been greatly tense about what demands someone like me—who looks every bit like an archdemon—would make, so it's understandable they'd be bewildered when all I asked for was the date and location.
"Are you telling us to sacrifice another country for our safety?"
...Huh?
Uh... um...
It seems that wasn't it.
To the knight, my saying I would peacefully leave this kingdom seems to have sounded like a demon's whisper telling him to sacrifice another country for their safety.
No... that's not it...
"Do you have a complaint?"
"Yes! Above all, how can we possibly believe tha—"
"If you do not believe me, then that is the end of it. Do I look like I am in a position to beg you for your trust?"
"..."
Unable to refute, the knight's mouth clamps shut.
I'm right, aren't I? So what the hell am I supposed to do if he doesn't believe me.
They know better than anyone that they are alive solely thanks to me; I am the one showing mercy, not receiving it.
"...Year 1311, the Lyon Kingdom."
The knight squeezes his eyes shut and grits his teeth, then soon obediently tells me what I demanded.
The knight, who had been weighing honor against national interest, seems to have decided to prioritize national interest as one who receives the kingdom's salary.
Players become involved in Noah's story when creating characters in 1327, but it's 1311... that's 16 years early.
'And Lyon... wow, I've come to an important place.'
The Lyon Kingdom is a nation that occupies significant importance in the early part of Noah's story.
Decades ago, a noble who assassinated the king and usurped the throne made a contract with a demon and wiped out the entire royalist faction, but as the price of the contract, Lyon was completely handed over to demons, and the kingdom turned into a literal hell on earth—wait.
'That noble... isn't that Matthias?'
Matthias definitely performed a demon summon, right? I saw earlier that his title was Usurper...
Uh... was a different demon supposed to come, but I came instead?
And Matthias died because of my mistake?
'Then the story is...'
The fact that the Lyon Kingdom holds significant importance in the early part of Noah's story means, in other words, that without Lyon, players won't be able to level up properly.
If the demons, undead, and magic beasts filling Lyon are gone, wouldn't the experience gained from killing them also be gone?
In my memory, the players' level was on average 24 just before the Lyon story and around 60 afterward...
...I'm fucked.