Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 332 EP: Another Path

"...That's it."

After listening to Pest's story, Lin sighed helplessly: "There's nothing we can do about that kind of inexplicable intruder. It's not your fault."

During the Fire Dragon Birth Festival, the Demon King attacks. With Shiroyasha, the East District's strongest organizer and the strongest class ruler, sealed away, Sandora, the leader of Salamander and the new class ruler of the North District, successfully cracks the game with the help of Ren Russell's Nameless, expelling the Demon King with virtually no casualties and protecting the festival.

The news has spread among the lower classes.

"But you are very lucky."

Lin, who had handed over the letter, narrowed her eyes again and said with a grin, "You were right. Your organizer authority was lost, so you should have been declared the loser. You should have disappeared along with them after Hamel's Grimoire was destroyed. But—"

She pointed to the data provided by an intelligence officer and said, "But coincidentally, because the contestants were sending out contestants with a high number of participants, once you have 'conquered' all the contestants who were fighting you and those sent out to search for the stained glass through the game's new judgment, plus the patients on the contestants' side, you will only need one person to reach one-third of the total number of contestants."

So this is how the tie came about. Because Cain was also a contestant, the moment Pest killed Cain, the number of contestants "killed and subdued" by the organizers reached one-third, fulfilling the victory condition. However, at the same moment, Pest, having killed Cain, lost both her Death Spirit and her organizer authority, thus simultaneously fulfilling the contestants' victory condition.

Then, when both contestants have achieved victory at the "same moment" and it is impossible to tell who comes first, the game will naturally end in a draw.

"You've saved your life, little Pest."

Lin said with a chuckle.

But compared to this life that she already knew was saved, Pest was more concerned about the missing Nero: "What about Nero?"

"Ah...her."

Speaking of this topic, Lin looked at His Highness who was casually flipping through a picture book behind her.

It was a children's picture book that told the story of the epic Mahabharata.

"The Bodhi seed's greed has been exhausted." His Highness raised his head and replied calmly, "It seems to have been used to open a door to the outside world."

"So, I've been 'exiled' to the outside world. This is really hard to deal with~"

"Can you find a way to find her?" Pest asked hurriedly.

"It's difficult~" Lin narrowed her eyes and shrugged, "After all, you know that the number of parallel universes is simply incalculable, and we can only make guesses based on the situation. Let me think..."

Lin carefully asked Pest again about the details before Nero disappeared, and gave a conclusion after a moment of thought.

"Based on this situation, the world she's in now probably has several characteristics."

Firstly, since it was the [Simulated Star Creation Chart·Reverse Kabbalah] that took the initiative to take Nero away, the world they were heading to must be a world that is consistent with this worldview.

There must be a lot of demons there, and probably a powerful ruler.

Furthermore, based on Pest's description, Lin determined that the opening was located at the lower left corner of the Inverse Kabbalah, where "Greed" resides. Perhaps some resonance had triggered it, leading Nero to seek new power. Therefore, it was almost certain that that world contained the original sin stone that allowed Nero to condense "Greed."

"And then—I don't know!"

Unfortunately, they couldn't pinpoint Nero's current location based on these clues alone; they could only wait for him to find his way back. However, one thing that concerned Lin was that after Nero placed the sixth Sephiroth—more than half of the Sephiroth—the [Simulated Star Creation Chart: Reverse Kabbalah] felt a desire to complete itself, and so took Nero on a quest to find a new Sephiroth.

This seems to mean that once this limit is exceeded, the simulated star creation diagram will tend to become uncontrollable.

"As expected of the worldview that once belonged to the [Final Trial of Humanity], it's really dangerous."

Seeing the topic had gone off track, Pest's tone became more anxious: "Then if I restart the magic book, can I summon her again?"

"But that time you paid a heavy price, didn't you? This time—"

Hearing Lin say this, Pest lowered her head as if stung by her gaze.

"Okay, I'm kidding. The truth is, a lot of your grimoires were destroyed during this game, and even if you forcefully activate them, you won't be able to summon them again."

"We don't really want to lose the Anti-Kabbalah we finally recruited," His Highness added calmly. "And probably no one wants her to just wander around like this, either."

"After all, if he accidentally grows into the new [Demon King of Dystopia], it would be a huge problem." Lin's voice was brisk, without any hint of "big problem." "So the other members of [Ouroboros] will definitely help out a little."

"...Is this the only way?"

Pest sighed helplessly.

Hamel's Grimoire was significantly damaged in this battle, though it might be possible to repair it. However, the dead cannot be resurrected. The genius poet who linked Pest's spirit to the god of death, granting her powerful sponsor authority, will never return. Given this, Pest, having lost her sponsor authority, naturally cannot become a demon king.

However, after surrendering his spirit, the Rat Catcher also seemed to have dissipated for the same reason as Pest. Now, as Pest had wished, she was the only one left to inherit the name of Hamel.

Oh, and Weser. He's not dead yet either.

"So, are you still coming back to Ouroboros?"

His Highness asked.

Pest asked cautiously, "If I say no..."

"We won't do anything to you either."

Lin answered: "After all, you have a good relationship with that 'Princess', don't you? We don't want our relationship to deteriorate.

"But having said that, if it's just a small favor, I still hope you won't refuse, little Pest~"

"...I will consider it carefully."

Pest tightly grasped the flag with the picture of the piper in flowery clothes in her hand and said goodbye to the two people in front of her.

If I were no longer the Demon King—

She walked towards the unknown future with fear and expectation.

(End of this chapter)