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That was one Transcendent down.

Following that, both the Northern Star and Lord of the East were also incapable of giving me what I needed―though, judging by their attitude, I\'m sure the former would want nothing to do with me even if they could.

I didn\'t necessarily expect them to be able to do much, but it was worth a shot.

That makes three Transcendents.

Then, I decided to visit some of the other inhuman Transcendents―the Necrotic Overlord, Nameless Flood, and Sojourn Storm of Slumber. Some of them were chaotic, but none of their behaviours warranted death like the initial Dragon King, so I spared them.

Needless to say, none of them were of any use, however, so I was promptly left disappointed.

That now totals Six Transcendents.

Since the Dragon King was worthless, I didn\'t expect the Leviathan of the Abyss to be helpful, and as it turned out, I was right. Unlike the former, however, the Leviathan only seemed to desire rest in its undersea cavern, and so I left it to its own devices.

Seven Transcendents.

Subsequently, Kolo Tjahn had finally managed to pinpoint the location of both the Vagabond Knight and the King of the Wandering Forest, so I gave each of them a visit too.

The Knight was seemingly mute, and as I expected, couldn\'t cast magic anyway, and the Wandering Forest\'s King was overbearing and haughty.

I killed the King and moved on.

Nine Transcendents.

Since there were said to be only Twelve if the Hero was excluded, my hopes were beginning to dim a little.

Although, because I had saved the best for last, it was only a little at the end of the day.

Three Transcendents remained.

The World Tree.

The Nightmare King.

And,

Just three days before the time limit on the Hero summoning would come to an end―

"Help me."

"..."

―The Demon King.

"...Hah. Even if you are such an anomalous being, do you think I would even consider supporting a human? The fact you had infiltrated this far with no one the wiser is more than enough to cut you where you stand."

"..."

It was a troubling first meeting, but I thought it could be salvaged.

"If you don\'t help me, I\'ll erase your castle from the face of the planet."

And what method of persuasion was better than intimidation?

Of course...

"What witless mockery... It is such an outrageous statement that even as a hypothetical it makes no rational sense. For a human who has reached the stage of ascension, you sure are absurd. Unless, were you joking?"

"..."

There was no way that things would go my way so easily.

Just as it has always been.

In that case.

"Die."

And bury yourself with your own post-mortem regret.

"Urgh-!!"

Slam-!

Clutching his body in a final instance, the Demon King fell from his throne to the ground and died, helpless.

Because Kolo Tjahn had managed to sneak us in here with top-level infiltration-type magic, there were thankfully no other demons present that we had to be concerned about.

And of course, the Demon King was too full of himself to even think of calling for reinforcements.

I had originally expected my Transcendent aura to intimidate everyone and force them to submit to help me, but instead of that, what has repeatedly happened seems to be the opposite.

Most Transcendents I have met seem to only be more antagonistic and in favour of opposing me, which is something I hadn\'t anticipated.

It was unfortunate, but there was nothing I could do at this point.

At that moment, Kolo Tjahn asked me. "Cee, why did you say something so ridiculous like flattening the Demon King\'s castle? I think he would\'ve been more easily persuaded if you said something more realistic."

Hearing him, who had become much quieter in recent days, I realised he must\'ve been contemplating a lot about all the stuff he had seen on the last few floors of the Magic Tower.

Since he was being confronted with many different kinds of Transcendents, it made sense that he would have some thoughts about it.

He even asked me some things about the World Stages Theory that was mentioned in the 12th Floor Trial, which I explained to him, including the original.

Well, it was easy since I was the founder of the theory, but anyway.

I turned my head to face him, and instead of answering.

"What castle? There is no Demon King\'s castle here."

He blinked.

"...?"

And in the next moment, he opened his eyes to see a completely different world around him.

Whoosh~!

Instead of the monumental black castle with an overwhelming presence, there was but a field of grass, gentle winds brushing across it.

"What..."

Understandably, he was visibly perplexed.

I felt no need to fill him in on all the details, however, and instead, I prompted him to teleport us once again.

Appearing back at our hotel rooms in the capital city of the empire, Gamma, I decided to wait out the final days until the Hero was summoned.

Since only the World Tree and Nightmare King remained, but the Nightmare King hadn\'t awakened yet and the World Tree was inaccessible due to the elven barrier, I decided there was nothing else of great importance to do in the meantime.

Incidentally, the existence of the Nightmare King was originally only known to the higher-ups of each nation as well as the mages of the Magic Tower.

Since the Nightmare King had only ever appeared in the 10th Floor Trial, it made sense why that was the case, but apparently rumours had begun spreading among the lower-ranked mages as well, leading to adventurers hearing of it, and then, the public.

Like that, the rumours proliferated until the Nightmare King, despite not yet appearing in the world, was classified as a Transcendent.

So, it wouldn\'t be until he awakens that he shows up.

But, either way, it\'s not something I need to be concerned about.

In the case of the World Tree, like I said before, the magic barrier powered by the Transcendent energy of the World Tree was too strong for even an Archwizard like Kolo Tjahn to penetrate.

Moreover, unlike the Demon King\'s barrier, or the barriers of most of the other Transcendents for that matter, that only covered his castle or the immediate surrounding area, the World Tree\'s barrier surrounded the entirety of the elven homeland, Alfheim, a forested nation which spanned the size of a small country.

So, it was impossible to teleport directly to the heart of the forest, where the World Tree stood tall.

I already took my time while visiting the Transcendents who lived all across the world, but it seems it wasn\'t enough, so now it\'s time for the final push.

Until the Hero is summoned, I will wait.

And when the Hero is summoned, if he has the power to cross worlds, he will have to make a decision.

Hopefully, he will make a better decision than this time\'s Demon King.

❖─────❖─────❖

Three days have passed and the Festival of the Hero has begun.

I found out the summoning was delayed a little due to the disappearance of the Demon King\'s castle. Naturally, the empire\'s investigation led to nothing, and as a result, they happened to think it was some kind of cunning ploy.

Of course, it wasn\'t anything like that, as the Demon King\'s castle truly didn\'t exist anymore, but there was no way they could think that.

What would they do with the Hero once they discover the Demon King is dead?

I wondered about such a thing, but there was no need to stick around and find out.

The empire is hastily carrying out the Hero summoning as we speak, and for all its citizens to watch at that.

"Woooo...!!"

"The Hero is coming...!"

"..."

Naturally, I am also present among the crowd that is like a vast sea, filling the capital city\'s main street as well as every nook and cranny just to catch a glimpse of the Hero\'s legendary flesh.

Well, I didn\'t think it was such a big deal, but I could understand the sentiment.

It was a heavy cultural thing, after all.

In any case, the instant I saw the magicians of the empire gathering at the main stage and setting up the undisclosed magic circle to summon the Hero, I sharpened my gaze.

Enhancing my vision with Reality, I focused solely on that spot.

A tense thirty minutes later, the circle was finished, and all that was needed was to power it with the magician\'s magic energy.

The circle quickly lit up with a dazzling white light to almost blind the observing audience, and a few moments later, something appeared within.

Certainly, it bore the silhouette of a human.

It was the Hero.

"..."

Without daring to close my eyes for even a moment, I stared straight at that black silhouette, gradually vanishing as the light bathing it dimmed.

Finally, the light dissipated and revealed the appearance of the Hero inside.

"!!"

My eyes widened.

The person I saw was none other than Yuu Shimura.