The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
“What the hell... are you talking about?”
A demon—no, a archbishop—whose goal is to prevent the resurrection of the Demon God?
That’s like saying the saint of the Seven Stars Church aims to kill all seven gods.
“Do you... even know what the Demon God truly is?”
Mephisto bit his lips hard before continuing.
“He is neither a savior who will grant the wishes of demons nor a guide who will lead them to paradise.”
“.......”
I knew that already.
The Demon God saves no one.
He guides no one.
He is simply...
“The Demon God is a catastrophe that seeks only to burn every living being in this world.”
That’s right.
Just as Mephisto said, the Demon God was not a god but a disaster—a force of destruction that sought to annihilate everything.
‘The real question is... how does Mephisto know that?’
Like most religions, the Demon God’s cult had unwavering faith in their deity.
And that was only natural.
For those bearing the Demon God's Stigma on their chests, resurrecting the Demon God and creating a world for demons was the only way to escape a life of hiding from heroes.
“Are you even allowed to say something like that as a archbishop?”
“I can say this because I am a archbishop. If I were just an ordinary demon, I wouldn’t have even grasped the truth about the Demon God.”
“Fine, let’s say that’s true.”
I narrowed my eyes at Mephisto.
“But do you really think that means I’ll trust you?”
He was a demon.
Not just any demon, but one of the six archbishops—the archbishop of corruption, the most skilled in deception and trickery.
“That’s...”
“If I think about everything you’ve done, I’d be more justified in killing you right here and now than in believing a word you say.”
I recalled Mephisto’s past deeds.
He had tried to alter Yurina’s Stigma into the Sun stigma.
And—
‘He was also the one who tried to turn Lanez into a witch.’
Of course, that had been in my past life, not in this one.
But still, there was no denying that Mephisto had tried to do something horrific to the people I held dear.
‘And now, all of a sudden, he’s claiming that everything he did was to stop the Demon God’s resurrection?’
That’s nonsense.
What possible connection could there be between changing Yurina’s stigma, corrupting Lanez into a witch, and preventing the Demon God’s return—
“...Huh?”
A thought flashed through my mind.
‘In my past life, after Mephisto changed Yurina’s stigma to the Sun, he never did anything else.’
That’s right.
Even though I had seen, firsthand, in the Helios family’s underground chamber that Mephisto had the power to turn heroes into his puppets—he had only changed Yurina’s stigma and done nothing more.
If his true goal had been to stop the Demon God’s return—
‘What if the reason he altered Yurina’s stigma was... to create a successor to the Sun’s Hero?’
In the end, Yurina kept her Moon stigma and became far stronger than she had been in my past life.
But that was just hindsight.
Normally, just as Yurina’s mother had believed, one could only be a true successor to the Sun’s Hero if they bore the Sun’s stigma.
In other words...
Mephisto was—
‘He was trying to create a descendant of Reynald Helios, the one who sealed the Demon God, to prevent the resurrection.’
I looked at Mephisto with confused eyes.
No.
That alone wasn’t enough to explain it all.
Even if that were true for Yurina... what about Lanez?
“Ah.”
A soft exclamation escaped my lips.
Lanez Malam.
The Witch of the Night.
She had been unable to control the power of the Frost Guardian and had lashed out indiscriminately, attacking both heroes and demons alike.
‘In my past life, the Demon Cult’s plan to resurrect the Demon God nearly failed because of Lanez.’
What if... that was intentional from the start?
What if the reason Mephisto had drawn Lanez to the demons wasn’t to gain a powerful ally but to place an unpredictable bomb in their midst?
“...You insane bastard.”
It felt like pieces of a broken puzzle were suddenly clicking into place.
The truth about the archbishop of corruption, the most enigmatic of the six, was so simple that I couldn’t help but scoff.
“Why... did you betray the demons?”
“.......”
Mephisto remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking in a bitter tone.
“Because there’s someone I have to protect. No matter what it takes.”
“That Serpente woman? The demon?”
“That’s...”
“What the hell is she to you?”
“......”
“...Whatever. Forget it.”
Tch.
I clicked my tongue and turned away.
“I haven’t decided to trust you yet.”
The pieces of his story fit together, but that was all.
The archbishop of demons wasn’t someone I could believe in just because his words sounded convincing.
“And I have no intention of becoming your ally.”
There’s a saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
But in most cases, the enemy of your enemy is just another enemy.
Mephisto was no different.
Even if we shared the same goal of stopping the Demon God’s resurrection, that didn’t mean I could consider him a companion.
“For now, I just need your information.”
“You mean... a temporary alliance?”
“Call it that if you want.”
I nodded and looked down at the corpses of the Apostles of Destruction.
“What exactly were these guys doing here?”
“They were preparing an assassination attempt on Empress Camellia. They planned to cut down the heart of the Empire and plunge the continent into chaos and war.”
An assassination attempt?
“They thought they could kill the Empress with just this?”
It was true that the Apostles of Destruction were abnormally strong compared to the followers of other archbishops.
Even their ordinary apostles had nearly wiped out both the Eternal Order and Mephisto.
But still—
“The Empress isn’t someone so easily taken down. They should know that too.”
Yes.
No matter how powerful they were, Empress Camellia was beyond reason.
A demigod who could stand against the Seven Gods themselves.
Even if the archbishop of destruction himself appeared, victory would be uncertain.
So how did they plan to assassinate her?
“They were igniting the Flame of Destruction underground.”
“...The Flame of Destruction?”
“Yes. With its power, they intended to nullify Empress Camellia’s divine protection.”
“......”
The Flame of Destruction...?
And they planned to use it to neutralize her divine protection?
‘As far as I know, the only thing capable of negating divine protection is the Primordial Flame...’
Ah.
“...I see... So that’s how it was.”
Why did I only realize this now?
In my previous life, there were no traces of Camellia using her blessing at the scene of her murder.
In other words, the Blessing of the Seven Stars had been nullified for some reason.
And the only thing capable of nullifying a blessing... was the Primordial Flame.
Which meant—
The reason the Empress couldn’t even use her blessing before she died in my past life was...
‘It was the Primordial Ember.’
Mephisto had called it the Ember of Destruction, but given the current situation, the difference was in name only—it was the same thing as the Primordial Ember.
“What do you mean by that?”
“...No need to worry about it. In any case, we just have to find and extinguish that ember, right?”
“Yes. If we don’t do it now, while it has only just begun to ignite, it will be too late. Once it starts to grow... unless one becomes the Incarnation of the Demon God, it will be impossible to put out.”
Unless one becomes the Incarnation of the Demon God, it can’t be extinguished, huh?
“Well, I get why you’ve been acting like a restless dog in need of a piss.”
“.......”
“So, where exactly is this ember?”
“...I don’t know.”
Mephisto shook his head.
“We are certain that the ember has ignited somewhere beneath this imperial palace, but we have yet to locate its precise position.”
“And in the middle of that, you got ambushed by the Apostles of Destruction?”
“...Yes.”
“Alright.”
I had a rough grasp of the situation now.
And I also knew what had to be done next.
“You stay put here. I’ll go extinguish that ember.”
“...By yourself?”
“Technically, it’s two of us.”
I turned to look at Professor Elisha.
She had joined me in the battle against the Apostle of Destruction and was now panting, exhaustion clear on her face.
“...You won’t be able to find it with the Blessing of Insight.”
“That’s for us to figure out.”
I glanced around at the collapsed members of the Order of Eternity and Mephisto, all panting heavily on the ground.
“Stay right here. I still have plenty of questions for you.”
Of course, there was no guarantee they would obediently comply.
But I had no choice.
For now, stopping the ember took priority over everything else.
—Crackle.
Leaving Mephisto and the Order of Eternity behind, I returned to Professor Elisha’s side.
“Haa... haa...”
“Are you alright?”
“Hoo... I’m fine. More importantly, are you hurt anywhere, Cadet Dale?”
Professor Elisha examined my body with a concerned expression.
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“...That’s a relief.”
She sighed in relief, pressing a hand to her chest before narrowing her eyes slightly.
“More importantly... how do you plan on finding the ember?”
“...You were listening?”
Of course, I had set up a barrier to ensure that no sound would leak out as soon as I started speaking with Mephisto.
“I heard through the strands of spider silk left on your body.”
“Eavesdropping, huh... I didn’t expect you to have the same interests as Lanez.”
“...What?”
“Just a joke.”
“...Is this really the time for jokes?”
Professor Elisha grabbed my cheek and pulled it as if scolding me.
I chuckled softly, shrugging my shoulders.
“I already have a plan.”
I intended to use Professor Elisha’s Blessing of Insight once again.
“You said it wouldn’t work... Ah, I see.”
Realizing my intent, Professor Elisha nodded in understanding.
“You’re planning to enhance the Blessing of Insight using your bodily fluids, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Since the Primordial Flame resided within me, by consuming my blood, she should be able to track the ember’s location.
I brought my palm to my blade to draw blood.
“What are you doing?”
“Huh? Don’t we need blood to enhance the Blessing of Insight?”
“Hm. I suppose I forgot, since we’ve been using blood so often for enhancement lately.”
Professor Elisha took a step forward and pulled my neck toward her.
“...Mmph.”
Soft lips pressed against mine.
A tongue slithered into my mouth, tangling with mine.
—Squelch.
After a moment, Professor Elisha pulled away, a smirk playing on her lips.
“Isn’t this a much simpler way to enhance the Blessing of Insight?”
“.......”
Come to think of it, it didn’t have to be blood—any bodily fluid would do.
“If you prefer... we could use another type of bodily fluid instead?”
Her gaze dipped downward toward my lower half, her smile deepening.
“.......”
Wait—was she seriously suggesting what I thought she was?
“Fufu. I’m just joking.”
“...Weren’t you the one who scolded me earlier for joking at the wrong time?”
“I don’t recall.”
She smirked, shrugging just as I had done earlier.
“...Sigh. Do you sense anything?”
“Give me a moment.”
Professor Elisha closed her eyes, focusing her mind.
After a brief silence, she opened them again, her violet irises gleaming ominously.
“This way.”

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