There were still countless lands in New World that ordinary users had not even properly managed to explore.

Among them, the place known for the highest difficulty was—

<The Eight Evils. That place still isn’t somewhere we can go. Even the number one ranked player can’t get in.>

There wasn’t a single user who argued with that.

And among those Eight Evils, the boss of the Third Evil, Count Lupe of the Dark Ghosts.

Having arrived here a little early in order to meet Aurora, the head of the mediator group, he offered a polite greeting with elegant movements.

“It has been a long time, O Worst One—”

Mm.

Cale flinched.

‘Is this really okay?’

That title, Worst One.

Can this really stay as-is?

“Yeah. It’s been a while.”

For now, after he returned the greeting, the other man accepted it.

Grin.

Wearing the smile of an elegant nobleman, Count Lupe spoke in a soft, careful voice.

“I’ve heard rumors lately.”

“Mm? What rumors?”

“The rumor that a Demon King is descending upon the Seven Evils.”

Cale paused.

Clatter.

At Cale’s side, Eruhaben Miru rattled.

“......”

Cale just stood there in silence.

For a moment, he had no idea what he was supposed to say.

Wearing a meaningful expression, Count Lupe looked at the egg wrapped in the flower-patterned cloth.

“As expected, this is the one who will become the Demon King.”

Clatter.

“Hoh. Quite a vigorous movement.”

Cl-claaatter.

“Ha ha! Quite a temper. Worthy of becoming the new evil of the Seven Evils, the Demon King!”

He nodded, but soon his expression stiffened a little, and he spoke to Cale cautiously.

“At present, every one of the Eight Evils except for our Third Evil and your Seventh Evil is focusing its attention on the Seventh Evil.”

Cale knew that too.

‘The birth of evil.’

For the sake of that, over the last three days Clopeh Sekka had been doing every ridiculous thing imaginable.

It made sense that rumors would start spreading by now.

“As the Seventh Evil has a fairy-tale concept, everyone seems to think the birth of a Demon King is an extremely fitting scenario.”

Mm.

Well, for a fairy-tale world, the final boss really would be a Demon King.

“However, the scale of the birth omens keeps growing, so the more the state of the Seventh Evil becomes known, the more everyone living throughout the Eight Evils is wondering just how powerful a Demon King is about to appear.”

Mm.

Clopeh Sekka really is good at this kind of thing.

“I’ve heard that even the ordinary kingdoms outside the Eight Evils are on high alert now. The birth of a Demon King would inevitably become a threat to the kingdoms.”

Mm.

Cale simply listened in silence.

Count Lupe’s expression grew even more meaningful.

“O Worst One—”

Suddenly, Count Lupe’s voice dropped.

Cale’s gaze turned toward him.

It felt like something important was about to be said.

“To think that you even command a Demon King—”

Mm?

Hold on—

“The day you rule over all of the Eight Evils.”

This bastard sounds like he’s about to start spouting nonsense.

Cale was just about to open his mouth, but Count Lupe kept going.

“The evil among evils. The Worst One. The highest seat of evil—”

His eyes burned.

What was the highest, loftiest place above all those who followed evil—

The answer was obvious.

“A god.”

Cale’s eyes widened.

Clatter!

Even the egg was startled.

Count Lupe’s smile turned even more sinister.

Filled with certainty, he declared:

“Are you not, in truth, destined to become the Demon God?”

Demon God.

Right.

A figure who had taken control of the Third Evil and the Seventh Evil, and now seemed to be aiming for the rest of the Eight Evils as well.

A figure who was bringing even a former companion to birth as a Demon King.

A figure who was trying to oppose none other than the God of Chaos.

A figure who, beyond the Eight Evils, was using the Dark Kingdom as a banner to spread influence across all of New World.

And that inhuman power—

And a figure who did not fear a war against those trying to create an Absolute God!

The ending of all those things—

The evil among evils!

The Demon God!

What nobler name could there be?

“Kh-huh—”

Without even realizing it, a frivolous laugh escaped Count Lupe.

“Y-you—”

And Cale was so dumbfounded he couldn’t get the words out.

He thought:

Has this guy lost his mind?

Demon God?

What the hell is he talking about?

Irritation toward Count Lupe surged in Cale’s glittering gaze.

“Ahem.”

Count Lupe immediately came to his senses.

Once again, he became a polite and elegant nobleman.

“I will be quiet.”

He had understood Cale’s intentions.

‘He must be reacting this way because I realized too much of the grand design too early.’

A person who sought not merely to save New World, but to rise to the highest place of evil.

It would not do to peer too deeply into that person’s inner thoughts.

Knowing when to pretend not to know was also the duty of a subordinate.

Count Lupe decided he would quietly carry out what he ought to do.

“I will not mention it again.”

“Mm. Good.”

Cale felt relieved at Count Lupe’s words.

‘So he does know it was nonsense.’

Still, Count Lupe was definitely easier to talk to than Dark Bear.

As expected of a mutant who had caught on to the system and the game.

To the reassured Cale, Count Lupe continued in a calm voice.

“I will support you with all my strength. I am always keeping track of the movements of the other six Evils, so if anything unusual is discovered, I will relay it immediately through Dark Bear.”

Nod, nod.

Count Lupe really did handle work well, and so did that bear cub Dark Bear.

That was why Cale could leave things to them and proceed with the quest to find the holy land of the God of Chaos.

Once Eruhaben Miru was born, they would head to the Demon Realm, where Primordial Night, the holy land, should be.

“Ah.”

At that moment, Count Lupe spoke as if something had just come to mind.

“Do you know the boss of the Fifth Evil?”

“Isn’t it the Hell of Fire? Then the boss would be Hwa In?”

The Third Evil, the Dark Hell.

The Seventh Evil, the Hell of Time.

The Fifth Evil, the Hell of Fire.

“Yes. Do you know that one’s title?”

Mm.

Cale searched through the information in his head and murmured.

Watching him, Count Lupe opened his mouth.

“The Deposed Crown Prince. That fellow’s story is that he tried to become the Demon King, but lost in the competition, was driven out into the Demon Realm, settled in the Fifth Evil, and eventually became the Devil of Fire.”

Cale looked down at egg-Eruhaben Miru.

“And that bastard is extremely obsessed with the name Demon King.”

Tap, tap.

He idly stroked the egg for no reason.

Count Lupe’s voice reached his ears.

“It would be best to keep that in mind. When the baby boss of our Seventh Evil is born, Hwa In may try something.”

Clatter.

Eruhaben Miru suddenly moved violently.

Count Lupe smiled.

“Ha ha! Do not worry, baby boss. Aren’t [N O V E L I G H T] we the ones who will serve the Worst One together? I will do my utmost to help bring about your birth.”

Clatter, clatter!

Eruhaben Miru became even more violent.

Cale understood the meaning behind those movements.

“...Baby boss......”

Pfft.

Cale barely managed to suppress his laughter.

...cl...claaaatterrrr......

Eruhaben Miru looked like he had attained enlightenment.

It was at that moment.

“Human! They say Aurora is crossing over!”

Raon ran up and delivered the news.

The mediator.

Aurora, the representative of that group, was finally entering this game.

“Watch this for a moment.”

Cale handed the egg to Raon. With an average age of ten, he would take good care of Eruhaben Miru.

[Recovery Rate 96.91% (Time Remaining: 3 days 21 hours 49 minutes)]

[Birth Ceremony Progress 50%]

[Reward Grade Undetermined]

At the point when the Birth Ceremony preparations had reached 50%, Cale started walking toward where Aurora was.

“Let’s go.”

At his call, Count Lupe followed behind him slowly, his face somewhat stiff.

That was only natural.

For him, there was a chance he might learn new information about his own past.

*****

Step, step.

As he walked down the corridor decorated here and there with cotton-candy ornaments, Cale listened to Count Lupe’s footsteps following behind him.

‘Aurora will cross over here from Apitoyu.’

The Demon King of Ennui.

Because that bastard had suddenly started moving around outside, Aurora and the mediator group had to keep their heads down.

And now, perhaps because an opening had appeared, Aurora had said she would come here alone for the time being.

The only bloodline of the previous Demon King.

To Aurora, Count Lupe was someone important enough to be listed at the very top of the “missing demonfolk” list.

Not only was he a supporter of Aurora and the mediator group—

‘The richest man in the Demon Realm. Even though his rank was only count, his wealth was enough to defeat dukes and grand dukes.’

It was said that he was the true owner of the greatest merchant company in the Demon Realm.

‘Count Lupe had a secret vault.’

...A secret vault.

The certificate of ownership for the merchant company would be in there.

It was said that even the current Demon King’s side had failed to find it.

‘If Lupe regains the memories he had when he was still a count, Aurora would gain two advantages in the fight against the Demon King’s side.’

First, she would gain a reliable backer with wealth.

And second. This was even more important.

‘Justification.’

The fact that the current Demon King had cooperated with the hunters and carried out experiments on actual demonfolk, taking their lives.

No matter how great a being the Demon King might be to the demonfolk, that would inevitably provoke tremendous backlash.

‘And it benefits us too.’

Quite apart from the fact that Count Lupe was one of Cale’s subordinates—

‘It’s evidence.’

It would become evidence that Transparent Co., which had risen into a transcendent corporation in the Third District, had carried out experiments on demonfolk and humans.

‘Putting aside whether Anlomann wins another term as president—’

At the very least, it would be a tremendous help in taking down Han Taeksoo, the honorary chairman of Transparent Co. and head of the Transparent Blood family, as well as Transparent Co. itself.

The Third District.

Earth’s way of doing things was fairly familiar to Cale too.

‘If this goes well—’

The prosecution, the political world, the media, and even the public.

He might be able to make it impossible for any of them to take Transparent Co.’s side.

‘Honorary Chairman Han Taeksoo. And Transparent Co.’

Bringing that place down using Earth’s methods wouldn’t be bad at all.

Up to now, Cale had used the methods of the Central Plains for the Central Plains, and Apitoyu’s methods for Apitoyu—

so on Earth, shouldn’t he use Earth’s methods?

Grin.

The corner of Cale’s lips curled upward.

‘Mm!’

Following behind him, Count Lupe looked at Cale’s back and felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

“...This is going to be very fun......”

Then, at Cale’s muttered words, Count Lupe involuntarily stopped walking.

It felt as though he had just glimpsed some vast darkness.

“Why?”

Cale turned around with his usual expression and asked the question, and Lupe came back to his senses.

“N-no, it’s nothing.”

“Okay.”

Without any further conversation, Cale started walking again, and Lupe followed after him.

And so, for several minutes, a half-demon and a demon walked on without saying much, until at last they reached their destination.

The boundary line that divided—or connected—Apitoyu and New World.

Cale looked at the basement of Neo, the former Dragon Lord and the head of the Purple Blood family.

“Ah.”

He saw Aurora stepping out of the underground passage and into the corridor of Cotton Candy Castle, the Seventh Evil of New World.

Cale raised a hand.

“It’s been a while.”

Just as when he had first met her, the middle-aged woman with golden eyes approached.

He wanted to hear news from her about the Demon Realm and about Choi Jung Gun.

Maybe that was why he felt genuinely glad to see her.

“!”

But Aurora stopped walking.

“Ah—”

A sigh escaped her.

Both of her hands were trembling in tiny shakes.

‘Oh.’

At the sight of that, Cale immediately understood the answer.

“C-count—”

The moment he heard Aurora’s trembling voice, he slowly turned around.

‘So that’s it!’

Our Count Lupe really is Count Lupe!

-And he’s rich!

As the ancient power, the Fire of Destruction, that miser, said—our subordinate is the richest man in the Demon Realm!

And one who owns a merchant company at that!

A smile naturally formed on Cale’s lips.

“!”

But then he was startled.

-Cale! Our angel! Our angel!

The miser shouted urgently.

“Khk!”

Count Lupe let out a groan.

Cale quickly went over and supported him.

“Lupe?”

“Khk, ugh!”

Count Lupe grabbed his head with both hands and could barely support himself.

No matter who looked at it, this was—

-Cale! It looks like our rich angel’s memories are coming back!

That’s right. Just like the miser said, Count Lupe had seen Aurora and was now recovering the memories he had lost as a demon! Wasn’t this that kind of grand cliché?

“Count!”

Aurora too hurried over in shock.

Lupe painfully raised his head to look at her.

“Khk!”

And then he suffered even more.

He couldn’t even get his words out properly, trembling all over like a leaf in the wind.

But slowly, he stretched out one hand.

That hand reached toward Aurora.

“Ah—”

Aurora let out a breath.

“Count—”

She looked into Lupe’s trembling eyes.

The blood vessels in his eyes had burst, leaving them reddened and bloodshot.

They were full of confusion, but every so often some emotion surged up violently within them.

That emotion was—

“...You remember, don’t you?”

It was grievance and fury.

A deep, desperate resentment, enough to make it feel tragic, appeared and vanished over and over again in Lupe’s eyes.

It was as if Dark Ghost Lupe and Count Lupe were switching back and forth.

“Ah—”

Tears welled up at the corners of Aurora’s eyes.

Count Lupe had become younger than she remembered.

And yet he was unmistakably that same Lupe.

‘Really—’

Really, the Demon King imprisoned his own kind inside a game like this?

He really killed them and experimented on them?

How could—

“How could he do such a thing—”

Aurora’s voice was thick with rage.

Guessing at something and facing it as reality were two very different things.

The gap between them was enormous.

“Ha—”

Just then, someone’s sigh could be heard.

Cale Henituse.

Aurora realized he was there.

Remembering him supporting Lupe, Aurora helped support Lupe as well and looked at Cale.

“Commander—”

Then she stopped.

Cale was not looking at Lupe.

He was staring into empty air, letting out a deep sigh.

“...Huh?”

Cale’s expression—

That looked like—

‘He looks pissed off?’

But at the same time—

‘He kind of looks like he likes it too?’

What is that?

The moment confusion appeared on Aurora’s face—

[A Sub Quest has occurred!]

Cale was looking at the screen floating in midair.

[As this is a special event, rewards will be distributed according to completion rate!]

[Required Reward: Count Lupe’s Lost Memories]

The game system.

This bastard had given Cale another quest.

The moment Cale saw the quest content, he realized once again that this system was both astonishing and insane.

And even though it had been quite a while since he had seen Won, the AI derived from the system, Cale became certain that the system watching over all of New World was, at least for now, on his side.

[Sub Quest: Let’s steal the special research report from Transparent Co.’s secret laboratory!]

The game system.

This bastard was now openly demanding that Cale deal with things outside the game too.

[-The access password to the secret laboratory is known by Honorary Chairman Han Taeksoo’s secretary.]

[-The secret laboratory is currently disguised as a magical device.]

The system was proposing that Cale leave the game and raid Transparent Co.’s secret laboratory in the Third District.

“Ha ha—”

Cale let out a rather refreshing laugh.