The True Hero

"In the history of the world of Nears, the most important figure is Ars Garhart."

Carla had once taught Sei that. With a somewhat sulky expression, Ria had nodded in agreement.

Even including the first emperor of the empire who brought humans from another world, 'Saint Emperor' Shifaka, and the 'Dragon Emperor' Reiana who later became a divine dragon, as well as demi-humans and demons besides humans, no one disputes this.

There were heroes. There were summoned champions. There were many races that represented their eras. There were many great rulers as well.

But no one else guided the world—not society, but the world itself—shaped the flow of history, deceived even the divine dragons and manipulated them in the palm of his hand, let alone destroyed one of them.

Summoned as a hero, he fought against the Demon King's forces, destroyed the Demon King, reigned as the new Demon King over the leaderless demon race, and advanced the civilization of the demon race, which had a tendency toward barbarism that held strength as supreme.

Using overwhelming power, modest knowledge, and well-balanced wisdom, he governed the demon race. Then, when The Millennium came, he deceived even Istria's strategist and Ogress's regent Guinevere, eliminated the great general Prince Shion of Lemdria, and brought about the Great Collapse.

He saved the world called Nears and destroyed his own homeland, Earth. He was also the worst mass murderer in history. But thanks to that, the races were freed from the nightmarish system called The Millennium.

He is someone who will always be spoken of in world history. In the records, he remains as an existence whose intelligence, political power, military prowess, leadership, and charisma were all maxed out.

But what was his true nature actually like?

Now, that mystery was about to be revealed.

They moved to the basement of the Demon King's castle by elevator. A barrier had been placed to prevent teleportation.

Opening numerous doors guarded by golems, Ferna proceeded deeper, accompanied by Sei alone.

Eventually, they arrived at a spiral staircase.

They descended deeper and deeper through it. This part was on foot.

"I can sense the power of magic. And this is… science?"

What Sei was sensing was magical power and energy converted from magical power.

"Ars-sama is in a state of cryogenic sleep. Not just magic, but scientific knowledge as well is being used to make his slumber peaceful."

Guided by Ferna, Sei proceeded forward, but what awaited him there was astonishment.

Human, demi-human, and demon elite guards were only stationed on the shallow levels; partway down, golems took over the protection.

Not mithril golems or iron golems. Multiple orichalcum golems—the same kind Sei had barely managed to contend with in the Golden Corridor—were standing by.

(Just how absurd of a nation is this, Garhart?)

In territory, population, and technology, it stood apart from other nations in every way.

If compared to Earth, it would be like America made even stronger. Yet it rarely interferes with other countries.

The current Great Demon King Ferna was the same, but Garhart did not favor exerting influence over other nations. Of course, this was also related to the territory being surrounded by mountains and having a large demon population.

Eventually, Ferna arrived at a small door that seemed like an airtight lock.

As expected, it was triple-layered, opening horizontally, vertically, and diagonally.

And the two stepped into Ars's sleeping chamber.

Metal covering the walls, panels displaying numerical values.

It was a sci-fi room that clearly had the scent of science.

And in the center, sleeping in a pod covered with semi-transparent material and filled with liquid, was a single young man.

Black hair and black eyes were ordinary features for a Japanese person, but in this world where not just races but species were diverse, they were conversely rare. Well, since Sei had Mako, he didn't really feel that way.

Ferna operated the device beside the pod. It didn't take long before everything was complete.

The liquid drained away, and the semi-transparent material became transparent.

"Um, can one really awaken from cryogenic sleep this easily?"

Sei knew nothing about the common knowledge of cryogenic sleep, but even so, this process seemed fast.

"This was created by Ars-sama, and the experiments were successful. However… there's certainly no precedent for long-term cryogenic sleep spanning over a thousand years."

Ferna also had a somewhat anxious expression at Sei's words. But the awakening procedure continued, and the pod's transparent cover opened.

A young man with black hair who still looked only about twenty years old. Sei couldn't help but use Identify, and he doubted the result.

Level 399. Even higher than Carla or Quorfos. And within the verifiable range, an incredible number of skills were maxed out.

And on top of that, he would pilot something called a Machine God, so he could probably fight not just lesser gods, but even the current four evil gods.

According to the Identify result, there was no doubt he was alive. But it didn't seem like he would wake up immediately either.

Ferna hesitated for a while, but eventually steeled herself and used magic.

"Awaken"

A spell that forcibly awakens someone from sleep, but it also has the effect of removing drowsiness.

"Full Recovery" "Complete Healing" "Perfect Condition"

Ferna used high-level healing magic. And the young man's eyes opened.

Slowly, Ars, both hero and Great Demon King, awakened from his slumber.

"Ahh…"

Covering his face with his hand, he gazed at Ferna standing beside him.

"Ferna… what year is it?"

"It is the year 6005 of the Unified Calendar, Ars-sama."

"… I slept quite a while. So, what happened?"

His expression was still a bit dazed, but Ars fully rose from the pod and stepped outside.

The robe-like garment became fitted clothing to match his body with just that one step.

Genesis magic. What was once called that, and is now called infinite magic—the supreme magic.

"The evil gods have revived, and warfare has broken out on the three continents excluding the Dragon Bone Continent. The god on the Dragon Fang Continent was sealed by Irina's hand, but four particularly powerful ones are expanding their influence on the Dragon Wing Continent and Dragon Claw Continent."

Ars scratched his head vigorously, then asked Ferna another question.

"If that were all, the divine dragons would probably handle it, but what else?"

"Heroes have been summoned. Thirty-six of them."

"Huh? That's more than before. What's the current situation?"

"The nation that summoned them was destroyed by the dragons, but the heroes teleported to various parts of the world. More than half of them have already been returned to Earth, but the remaining heroes are mostly within the evil gods' territories, and the evil gods have also created new kin. The divine dragons are wary of the heroes and are avoiding contact as much as possible."

"I see, so dealing with the remaining heroes and also sealing the evil gods again while we're at it. Who's this young lady?"

"A human sent by the god of Earth to return the heroes."

"… Let me hear the details."

From that place where a barrier preventing teleportation should have been in place, Ars teleported with Ferna and Sei to the upper levels of the royal castle.

The terrifyingly precise spell construction exceeded even Carla's, and Sei felt that this young man truly possessed the power to move history.

Sei's party and Ferna gathered in one room, and it was decided they would inform Ars of the current situation.

"So this time, the god of Earth is also involved. Last time, figuring out the return destination was apparently the most troublesome part."

Despite being an existence also called the Great Demon King, Ars's attitude was friendly. And he seemed to have easily seen through Sei's condition.

"Reiana's training methods are reckless as always. So, that young lady there is one of the heroes. The Immortal Gift is quite reckless, but not as much as Gluttony."

In his perception, Mako's Gluttony was apparently quite dangerous.

Even so, he casually saw through the status that had disguise and concealment on it.

"Kin of the Dark Dragon… could you perhaps have originally been male?"

"Well, yes, actually that's correct, but…"

"She's still the same as always, doing things her own way without any room for argument. Oh, she's not human anymore, is she?"

At his own words, Ars grinned loosely.

After roughly hearing out the talk about the evil gods and heroes, he then gathered information about what had happened since he went to sleep.

"I see, so Rei and Asuka are still alive… The others from back then who are still living are Carla, Quorfos… and Serge-kun too. Chrys is sleeping like me, huh. The world map has changed quite a bit."

Ars seemed to have many deep feelings about the passage of approximately 1,500 years.

"The biggest thing is probably that two more divine dragons were added. Even so… even if she's young, there's a god on the Dragon Claw Continent strong enough to corner a divine dragon."

"I could still fight. But my kin forcibly teleported me away."

Lavi appealed in a somewhat indignant tone.

"If three high-ranking gods gather, there's a chance of the worst happening. I think that judgment wasn't wrong… Actually, with you as you are now, I think I could defeat you alone even if you became a dragon."

Words from the man who had destroyed a divine dragon in the past, even if through stratagems, carried persuasive power.

Then Ars and Ferna began discussing countermeasures against the heroes and gods.

"The one independent god on the Dragon Wing Continent isn't that much of a problem. Even if there are subordinate gods, using the Machine Gods that Ferna and I have, we could easily defeat them. I'll leave dealing with the heroes to you, but…"

Ars pondered for a moment. About his own experiences and the special Gifts this generation of heroes possessed.

"One in Garhart, and the remaining seven are on two continents… This could be a troublesome opponent."

Naturally, levels and skill levels rise more easily by defeating strong opponents and gaining various experiences.

And the heroes on the Dragon Wing Continent and Dragon Claw Continent should have been fighting against the powerful kin of the evil gods, so their levels should have risen as well.

Besides the Hero of Destruction that he heard about from Mako, there were heroes with powerful Gifts.

Ria and Carla were fairly optimistic, but according to the cautious Ars, heroes who had overcome deadly battles would also be aware of the weaknesses of their own Gifts.

In terms of pure battle experience, Ars's experience of fighting demons as a hero, fighting demons to become the Demon King, and fighting humans and demi-humans as the Demon King would probably surpass even Ria's.

Of course, if the heroes would simply return home without becoming hostile, that would be the most welcome outcome.

Ars and Ferna were to begin preparations to activate the Machine Gods.

Sei's group was to retrieve the other hero in Garhart territory. After that, they would travel to the eastern edge of the Dragon Bone Continent, and from there it would be a sea voyage. At this high latitude, there were apparently fewer giant and troublesome sea monsters.

Even so, the sea beyond the continental shelf was still dangerous, apparently.

"It's strange somehow that the sky is safer than the sea."

Mako, who had common sense from Earth, said that, and Sei nodded.

Their destination was a region south from the main route.

Apparently, among the demon races, those whose appearances particularly differed from humans—like goblins and beastkin—lived there in mixed communities.

And thinking there would be a labyrinth again as expected, this time it was different.

What was there was ruins. The difference between ruins and a labyrinth was that ruins were made by races, while labyrinths were filled with magical essence that created monsters.

However, those ruins were the remains of a capital that a Demon King had used as a stronghold 4,000 years ago, and magical essence had become prone to accumulating there, making it half-labyrinth.

Nevertheless, since it was the former castle of a Demon King, it had high historical value, and there were apparently eccentrics who hired guards to tour it.

And there were explorers who challenged those ruins, trying to obtain treasures left behind within the Demon King's castle.

The next hero appeared to be among those explorers.