Chapter 254 - [13th Round] Scenario

“To avoid misunderstandings, I would like to immediately clarify that Hippolia, the Festival’s manager, was created by Fantasy by putting her whole soul into her. I guess she can be considered her avatar.”

“You never talked about this before.”

Did she just come up with this stupid excuse?

“Well, you’ve never asked about it before either. It always seemed strange to me how you curse the system day in and day out but care so much about its avatar, though. The Saintess is the Goddess’s representative, which means she shouldn’t be separated from her. However, some cowardly Hero decided to ruin her anyway, causing everything to go haywire.”

Taking advantage of a mission to guide the followers of demons who were heroes in the past, I corrupted her.

But I thought that was the end of it.

“Fix her now.”

“If you don’t fear my father or aunt taking her away from you, then I’ll return her to her previous state.”

“What do you mean?”

“You made two mistakes. When you corrupted the Saintess, you imbued her with my dad’s Dark Energy, then bestowed upon her the power the angels received for winning the Festival. My aunt was the First Angel. All deities and angels come from her.”

She had both Dark Energy and Divinity, which became a problem.

Therefore, Ssosia intervened, causing Saintess H to fall under the influence of the system.

“So who are you now, Rice Pie?”

“Still me.”

“Is that so…”

Gently placing my hand on her waist, I pulled her to me and planted my lips on her.

At this point, I wasn’t worried about Ssosia.

After all, this was the last time I’d be able to do this.

Saintess H’s snow-white wings disappeared, and translucent spirit wings filled in their absence.

That wasn’t all that changed.

? Race: Human Spirit

? Level: 1

? Job: Apostle (Patronage = Ability)

? Skills: Interpretation A

? Status: Submission, Rebirth, Divine Dragon

Her race changed from Angel to Human Spirit, her level and skills dropped, and her job changed from Saint to Apostle.

Only the “essence” of Saintess H remained, which I reorganized to free her from the system’s influence. The rest had been confiscated.

Unsurprisingly enough, not everything went like clockwork.

“I’d understand if you can’t forgive me for depriving you of your powers and giving you a cloaca, Rice Pie.”

Nature-born spirits didn’t need genitals.

Boris at least managed to retain her former “nature,” but Saintess H didn’t succeed since she was the “Avatar of the System” in her past life.

I couldn’t just leave any seeds of disobedience alone.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Saintess H was reborn as a spirit.

“For as long as I can be with you, master, I’ll be satisfied.”

I could no longer call her Saintess H since her job had changed now, but I wasn’t particularly worried about it.

I could just keep calling her Rice Pie!

“You shouldn’t give such a name to a beautiful girl.”

Rice Pie herself didn’t find any problems with it, but Ssosia began to become indignant.

“Hmm? What makes you think I care about others’ opinions?”

In the past, present, and future, Rice Pie was my property.

Ever since I took her out of the Festival of Heroes, that had already been decided. Hence, I had to repay her for her loyalty to me.

I wouldn’t allow anyone other than me to control her.

My responsibility and conscience would suffer otherwise.

“Do you even know what conscience is…”

“Mistress Ssosia, you seem to underestimate my master. He could’ve returned to Earth already, but he’s still here doing the inhabitants of this world favor upon favor completely free of charge. His actions all stem from conscience and responsibility.” Rice Pie replied for me.

The way she addressed Ssosia didn’t change.

“I see… You’re right. I admit to it. I underestimated him… In more ways than one.” The cowardly demoness smiled.

But I knew what she regretted all too well.

“Give up. You’ll never be able to emotionally manipulate me.”

“No. I have an excruciatingly painful amount of time to keep doing this.

Ssosia was cursed to always be second in everything.

Therefore, the more I loved the “third woman,” the higher the force she could push on me.

It had nothing to do with combat power.

It was simply based on indisputable and natural reasoning.

“Are you still looking for a third…?”

“Ha! You just wait. I’ll find her soon enough and make you into a love slave. Think what you want, but I was the one who made you call Hippolia—Rice Cake. She’s your first, isn’t she?”

“Who knows?”

How could she know what even I didn’t know?

“No, I’m right. Pretending to be indifferent to her won’t make a difference. Your own emotions are more noticeable by others than by yourself.”

“That’s true! I can clearly see through my dear nephew’s mien what he thinks of you. Heeheehee!”

“Aunt! Please!” Ssosia’s behavior changed instantly due to the First Spirit’s intervention.

That aside…

“Rice Pie, can you save this mage?”

I felt sorry for her, but I was in a hurry.

Resurrecting the deceased Sinister Mage A was mandatory in order to carry out the rebirth process.

I didn’t think she would lose her job either.

“You don’t have to worry. My resurrection method has changed a bit, but it will still provide the same result. All that I require to restore his body and soul is your experience points.”

“That simple?”

I provided her with experience points, and Apostle Rice Pie resurrected Sinister Mage A.

I didn’t even notice that my experience points diminished.

It was like filling a 1.5-liter bottle with water from a lake.

That was how worthless the dungeon boss was, most likely caused by his inability to keep his virginity and become an archmage.

“Aren’t you underestimating your opponent too much, my cowardly husband?”

“Shut up and help me stage this.”

“Stage this?”

“The journey will proceed as planned for as long as the Hero comes and inflicts a crushing blow on Sinister Mage A. Stop standing around and tie up the newly saved girls already, Snow Woman. Sorry, ladies, but can you take your clothes off again? I just need a way to swiftly let the Hero and her companions know just how vile and evil Sinister Mage A is while also showing all the atrocities that he’s done. I’d also appreciate it if you cry a little once they show up.”

There was little time left.

Judging by the dying words of Sinister Mage A, in about an hour, the student council president and her dummies would reach us.

All preparations had to be completed before they could reach us.

“Hey hubby, I get the gist of your clever plan, but our antagonist here is shaking with fear. Are you sure this is going to work?”

As Ssosia said, the dungeon boss was terrified.

That would complicate things.

“I would like the coming Hero to kill you, but I will give you a chance to avoid this fate, Sinister Mage A. Kill all of her companions but make sure you keep her alive. Then I will let you go.”

“Really?! Are you serious?”

“Because of my senior’s tricks, I resigned, but ten years ago, I was known as the MAX-Class Righteous Hero. Once I let you go, I won’t even try to chase and slay you. Trust me.”

“O-okay…”

Hope permeated over his fearful expression!

However, realizing that the strength of the Hero heading here was enormous, he again fell into despair.

We’d be exposed at this rate.

“There’s no other option. I’ll have to lend you my power.”

I immediately transferred experience points to his body.

“My level is rising! My power and energy are still surging!”

He regained his lost hope once more.

I wanted to give him more, but his vessel was too small. Such were the limitations of a weakling who couldn’t even become an archmage.

“It’d be strange if there’s not a single ogre in their final battle, considering you control their kind. Rice Pie, find any ogres we can use in this lab.”

“Yes, master.”

Upon death, monsters returned to nature within a few minutes.

Hence, whenever wizards wanted to investigate monsters, they used magic that paralyzed their entire bodies.

Fortunately, there were still live ogres in the lab.

However, their veins had been cut off and had foreign substances embedded into them to prevent them from regenerating. They were like living stuffed animals.

That wasn’t where my problems ended.

“Foolish ogre, praise the greatest Master Mollan.”

“Oooogh?”

Even with just a wobble of their bodies, even the lowest life form could become strong with his grace!

? Race: Super Mountain Ogre

? Level: 999+

? Job: Predator (Predation → Absorption ↑)

? Skills: Physical Strength Z, Immortality Z, Fortitude Z, Size MAX, Endurance MAX…

? Status: Amplification, Modification, Courage

Except in special cases, artificial skill upgrades were limited to MAX rank.

It was the same for me.

But there were tricks to bypass that rule.

The Soul Spirit King took over the ogre’s mind and ordered him to sacrifice his skills to the transcendent.

The donated skills then quickly reached MAX rank again.

Thanks to the artificial skill rankings that Master Mollan taught me, I managed to give him 3 Z-rank skills, which was a pretty good result for a 5-minute effort.

His upgraded race was also a nice bonus.

“Making a Hero-level ogre… This goes beyond crazy, my cowardly husband. This is more like cheating or fraud…

The student council president and her dummies would arrive in eight minutes.

Before they did, I made another heroic ogre and positioned the two to Sinister Mage A’s flanks.

“Wow… You finally look like an actual villain.”

“Th-thanks…”

Having changed his clothes and hairstyle, he now looked fitting for his role.

Nude beauties elegantly laid on his bed.

Once their hands had been untied, they’d be able to pick up their clothes and belongings under the bed once more and return home.

I wasn’t using them for free.

In exchange for their assistance, I gave them a little sponsorship.

“Let’s go over the script one last time. As soon as the Hero with the dummies enters through this door, you wave your cloak and say…”

***

“Hahaha! Welcome to Hell, you worthless beings! This place shall be your companions’ grave, but don’t worry. I’ll be taking great care of you, Hero!”

“What…?”

The president of the student council fell for Sinister Mage A’s provocations.

Everything was going just as I intended.

We managed to prepare a lot, but many scenes remained unworked.

For example, the moment they asked him where I went, everything would immediately fall apart.

That was how bad this play was.

However, if he could initiate the battle immediately, then everything would be fine since those moments would be omitted.

And so, their battle began.

“Oooogh!”

“Agh! This ogre is too strong!”

“Damn it! He keeps recovering even after I’ve decapitated him!”

“Be careful! They’re different from all previous ogres!”

“One of them’s coming from behind! Brace yourselves!”

The two monstrosities, reinforced by Master Mollan’s teachings, charged at the dummies.

They easily broke through the Sword King and the Mercenary King’s defenses and struck Sage, who was preparing some kind of spell at the back of the party.

“Aaaaagh—!!”

His blood splattered all over the ground, but this time, it wasn’t because of a nosebleed.

Even his Great Magic Shield couldn’t withstand the Z-rank Ogre’s onslaught.

That was the end for him.

There was no trace of other wizards and healers, and the student council president’s support team didn’t last even three seconds.

Did I overdo it?

“I’ve never heard Mollan teaching such a cowardly method…” Ssosia muttered, hiding nearby as we watched what was happening.

“Mollan…”

Master Mollan just swayed modestly.

“Hmm… Her companions are weaker than I thought. Moving on to plan B.

“Plan B?”

“Sinister Mage A will lose control after getting too carried away with his power.”

Only the student council president, the Sword King, and the Mercenary King survived.

The dungeon boss was already beginning to rejoice at the victory. He smiled slyly as he ogled at the student council president’s skin visible under her torn clothes.

However…

“Kh!”

“Oooogh!”

The trap I set up went off, and he began to overflow with so much force that he could no longer contain or control it.

The surviving ogre freed himself from the mage’s control and attacked his own master.

As the two fought, the student council president, having prepared herself for death in the event of failure, delivered a decisive blow.

“Aaaaahh—!!”

“Oooooohhh!”

Her unique “unquenchable flame” quickly turned Sinister Mage A and the ogre into a mountain of ashes.

Victory had been achieved!

Everything went according to my plans, but it was a pity that Sword King Alex survived.

“Good outcome, isn’t it?”

“You’re more suitable for the Demon Lord role than my father…”

“Hey! How can you call me, the greatest Prophet to ever exist, a Demon Lord? I’m a noble companion who shares glory and experience points with the Hero.”

“Just like a Demon Lord.”

“Shut up.”

At this point, I really didn’t know anymore.