‘Hopefully, this would be the last time I have to be in this filthy place’ thought Reginn

He was back in the underground labyrinth after destroying the dragon’s nest last time. The demon lord may have been able to escape last time, but now he was serious, and none would escape the labyrinth alive.

The second hero was planning the destruction of Faust. While many leaders of the labyrinth tried to escape the kingdom, Blodelshein and he were able to apprehend and execute all of them. Now, the only one left was the demon lord as well as the coconspirator who began the entire organization.

The steady steps echoed through the empty halls, Reginn not afraid of giving away his location. He was at the bottom of the labyrinth, inviting the demon lord to attack him, though he was more likely to find them first.

Deciding that he must go even deeper, he made his way to the dragon hive, now empty and silent. Extinct by Reginn’s hands.

Reginn looked around at the maze. This was the thing he despised the most about humans. While he loved Avangarden as a fellow subject of the Goddess, human nature sometimes disgusted him, even though humanity was a part of himself as well.

Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. While these were not exclusive to humans, they were still the most prevalent in them. The imperfection of mankind seeping through the generations, the people slowly straying from the way of the Goddess. The sins have eventually culminated in the organization known as Faust, a large black market network spanning the entirety of the kingdom. As the herald of the Goddess, Reginn could not let such an organization stand.

As he continued to explore the hive while scanning the environment with his mana vision, he stumbled across an entrance hidden deep inside the path in one of the thousand holes. The hero casually opened the door, expecting the demon lord to be waiting behind it.

However, what he was faced with was similar to a hotel lobby, all but empty. There were faint traces of people coming and going frequently. This was most likely reserved for the most elite of the customers, those who were looking for products so illicit and dangerous, that they had to be kept beneath the labyrinth.

Strangely, he saw many signs and arrows that pointed in a single direction. Of course, Reginn could not pass up such an opportunity. Even if the demon lord was waiting with the worst trap, he was confident in his ability to power through any dilemma.

After taking the short walk, Reginn was faced with an empty theatre, the spotlights pointing toward the man behind the curtain.

The red velvet unveiled and revealed the demon lord. However, before Reginn could kill him, he noticed another person inside a birdcage above the demon lord. A collar on their neck.

“Nice to meet you again so soon, Mister Hero. I see that you’ve noticed a present for you, an intriguing moral dilemma, but first, let me introduce myself. I am the Baroque, the 36th demon lord” said the demon lord while bowing as if to his audience

“You better speak quickly, demon lord”

“Very well,” continued Baroque “this human here, I’ve prepared just for you. It was extremely difficult to acquire, but he is the genuine article. Behold, Umpeare, the 90th hero!”

The hero was very feminine, but Reginn could tell he was a male through his stats, which confused Reginn a bit. However, a hero was a hero, and to endanger a servant of the Goddess was a direct attack against the Goddess. The second hero readied his fist, letting his aura run wild.

“N-now, now! This is the important part. If you kill me, the collar around the boy’s neck will explode! Destroying the collar will also cause it to explode as well, so I’d be careful!”

He checked the collar and unfortunately, the collar seemed to be mechanically activated, not magically, erasing the possibility of simply disabling the device with his talent, ANTIMANA. However, this was not a problem for Reginn, but he knew that this was the perfect opportunity to gain another loyal follower of the Goddess. It seemed that faith was rare in the 99th era, even among the heroes. Seeing Umpeare’s frightened face, like a puppy afraid, he knew that this was a prime opportunity.

“...Umpeare you say? Is that correct, hero?”

“...Y-yes?”

“It seemed that the Goddess has answered your prayer, for her most loyal soldier is here to save your soul,” said Reginn, in a theatrical voice “Now, I understand that you are a faithful follower of the Goddess seeing that you are a hero?”

“Y-yes! I am!”

“I see, then I shall help you”

In an instant, Reginn jumped to Umpeare’s cage, then bit off the collar of his neck, much to the demon lord’s surprise. The collar exploded immediately inside the hero’s mouth, leaving a bad taste. However, he was completely undamaged due to his high defence.

Baroque tried to run away but was quickly caught by Reginn, who held him by his collar off the ground.

“W-wait! We can talk about this!”

“Hm… You’re far too weak to be worth converting into an Anti-Demon lord. I guess I’ll just kill you!”

“Kh! I won’t go down so easily!”

Baroque had one last card in his sleeve. As a weaker demon lord, he always had to use his intellect, working within the kingdom as well as outside of it to spread corruption and greed. He was simply trying to recreate the 36th era, the thriving slave trade as well as narcotics, weapons, dark magic, as well as anything anyone could ask for, was that too much to ask for? Now he used the talent he used against Sacrosanct.

“⌈Nightmare Encore⌋!”

The two were teleported through space, to be transported to the place with the most trauma for Reginn. This talent was useful for psychological damage as well as gaining field advantage against the hero, though it wasn’t too successful last time.

They continued to travel through spacetime, then returned right back to where they began.

‘Impossible! How did the spell fail!’ thought Baroque

Reginn seemed a bit curious about what had just occurred. Not particularly bothered, but also confused.

“So… Is that your final move or something? The ⌈Time Waster⌋?”

“Kh! You will regret looking down on me! ⌈Nightmare Encore⌋!”

The hero and the demon lord returned to the space between spaces, travelling at incredible speeds back to… where they started. The empty theatre greeted them once more.

‘H-how could this be?’

By reading the demon lord’s expression as well as using his intuition, Reginn began to realize what was going on. Seeing Reginn’s slow, evil grin, the demon lord was also forced to accept the harsh truth.

“N-no! Are you a monster? How can you be afraid of nothing?!”

“As long as I am the soldier of the Goddess, I am afraid of nothing. Not death, not demon lords and especially not any place on Sol-Aegis. The emotion I feel instead of fear is…” revealed Reginn “...Anger”

The second hero grabbed the demon lord’s head before exploding it like a balloon, the blood splattering across the stage as well as Umpeare, who began crying due to everything he went through. He was unlucky enough to be resurrected into a hunter’s trap, he was caught by a particularly rotten hunter and was sold as a slave to Faust due to his unordinary appearance and abilities.

Noticing his fellow servant’s tears, Reginn dropped the headless corpse and sat on the floor beside him. If it was any other time, he would’ve been disgusted by the weakness displayed by such a disgrace of a hero, but he felt sympathy for the poor soul, perhaps because he was far too pathetic to get mad at. He wasn’t particularly sure what to do and began rummaging through his memories, especially of the times when he visited the small human village during the second era. There was something the Caretaker would also do to other people when they had tears in their eyes. After finally remembering what she did, Reginn followed suit, putting his arms around Ampeare and giving him a tight hug.

“You are safe now, hero. You will never be disgraced like that again”

“Th-thank you,” said Umpeare, through his coughs and sniffs

“Don’t thank me, thank the Goddess”

“Okay…”

“...Thank the Goddess”

“...Thank you, Goddess?”

“That’s better”

Reginn began escorting the hero on his back, Umpeare was unable to walk due to malnutrition and the ill-treatment within Faust. However, his work was not done yet. The hero still senses some disturbance in mana underground, a sign of life. The signal was faint, but strong enough to reverberate through the walls, meaning that it was most likely a magical creature. Perhaps it was a demon or a dragon he missed, but he doubted that.

“So, Umpeare, what’s your abilities?”

“My abilities?”

“It seemed that you were pretty helpless in that cage. I was just wondering why you didn’t do much”

“Well… That’s the thing. I think my abilities are useful and great for a hero, but it’s not something useful to me…”

“Well, get to the point”

“My talent, ⌈Heromaker⌋ can grant various things to my teammates. Boost their strength, speed and defence, or heal them and grant temporary shields. I usually work with a group of my friends to defeat my enemies, but I was all alone down here…”

“Hm… Can you use your talent on me?”

“I-I think I can. I’ll try increasing your strength”

Umpeare touched the second hero’s shoulder, his hand glowing brightly for a brief moment. A red aura appeared around Reginn, and he could feel immense strength coursing through his body.

“Hohoh! It seems that your ability grants a scaled boost to one’s strength. I like you a lot better now!”

“Y-yeah. I can at most increase to around 120% of any strength”

“So let’s say, I transformed into another form and got stronger. How would the boost work then?”

“T-transform?!”

“Look, just answer the question”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Well… In ‘base form’ you would have 100% strength. With my boost, you’d have 120% at most. If you’re are 200% strength in your ‘transformation’, you would have… 240% strength?”

“What if I equipped some weapons and amulets that increased my strength even further? How about then?”

“That’s a hard math question… I’m not too good at math, but let me try. If you have 10 hypothetical units of strength in base, 20 in ‘transformation’, then wore types of equipment that increased your strength further, let’s say to 24, then the boost would further grow your strength to… 28.8?”

“Hm… I see”

Reginn did not understand anything Ampeare was saying at all. However, he did catch that the hero’s talents had great potential. With the right circumstances, he could transform a skilled warrior into a hero, and a monster into a god.

“I can’t wait for you to meet the other heroes. They’d love to have you with them on their adventures”

“...How are the other heroes?”

“They’re good. I like them, at least. Some are weak, some are dumb, some aren’t willing to do what is needed, but all of them have the spirit. They are all worthy of being a hero”

“I-I see… I hope I can become worthy too”

“You’re already worthy the moment the Goddess chooses you, that is the definition of worthiness. But I understand what you’re trying to say. I’ll help you become a hero who can be strong even when alone - like me!”

“Do you think that I can become like you…?”

“I mean, no, but hopefully enough so you won’t be in a cage again”

“Oh…”

The two heroes finally entered the room where the signal was originating from. A singular cage awaited them in the dark room, Reginn unveiling its pitch-black disguise with the flick of a switch.

Umpeare covered his mouth, stopping himself from puking. Even Reginn was disturbed by what he saw. A mutated specimen of what once was a human. It looked as if it was slowly transforming into a demon, but stopped midway through, leaving behind an abomination. It could not be called a demonic-human, like the type Orchestra was after the curse. It was more like a victim of a horrible disease, motionless with only its heart thumping for life.

A small note was left on top of the cage, which Reginn picked up.

‘I hope you like the sneak peek of the big project I’ve been working on!! I can’t wait to show you the full thing later! - Zealot’

The hero crunched up the piece of paper in his hand. The demon lords had gone too far this time, creating this crime against nature. He hoped that the Goddess would never come across such a creature again. Reginn thought briefly about invading Sonosis himself but knew that it would cause wanton destruction on both sides. The hero wrote a mental note for himself to talk to Blodelshein about this.

The two heroes finally escaped the labyrinth soon after. Now the heroes could finally get started in sealing the maze away for good.

Umpeare met most of the heroes except Solas, who was away on patrol, Kallen, who surprisingly began to join her on the patrols and Siege, who was busy with Reina. He told Blodelshein she was going to attend the Royal Gladiatorial Academy for the first time tomorrow.

Blodelshein gathered Kaizer, Ampeare and Reginn together for a meeting. To discuss what Reginn found in the labyrinth as well as about their plans.

The second hero described the appalling discovery and presented the demon lord’s note. He recommended that a hero go undercover in Sonosis to inquire about such a project as well as to gain other information.

Blodelshein began thinking about all the heroes and who was the most apt to go undercover in such a dangerous environment. She could only think of herself, Reginn and Satie, but the other two… lacked the nuance to do espionage work. It was also a great opportunity for her to switch out of the supporting role and get on the field for the first time in a while.

After that issue was cleared up, Blodelshein revealed why she requested the presence of Umpeare and Kaizer.

“Umpeare, I’m going to enroll you in the Royal Gladiatorial Academy. You’ll start attending tomorrow”

“So fast?!”

“Mind control expedites many processes. Anyhow, you can just take my uniform and-”

“What?! That’s a waste of the boy's talents! We should send him to expeditions and adventures, not sit him behind a desk!”

“...I know what he’s capable of, Reginn. I can read minds, remember? This is a strategic choice. Umpeare is the perfect hero to overlook the two hero candidates in the Academy. I’ll make sure to put all of them into the same class. Umpeare is not only used to gauge a person’s strength but to also work with the hero candidates, teaching them about their strengths and weaknesses”

“I-I don’t know if I can do all of that…”

“Believe me, you have greater potential than you realize. Put your experience working with others and leading them to the test. I’ll also be relying on you to bring me consistent reports regarding the progress of the candidates”

“Y-yes ma'am”

“Don’t call me that. Kaizer,”

“Y-yeah?”

“I need you to help Umpeare around the school. You should also try to help the hero candidates as well. Show me that you’re a real hero”

“Ugh, do I have to?!”

“It’s the perfect opportunity for you to make more friends and have fun. Wouldn’t you like more companions other than us heroes?”

“...Fine, but do I get anything for this?”

“Hm… What do you want?”

“I want to go on the next mission or expedition or whatever! I know you guys are keeping me here because you don’t trust me to not destroy everything, but I’m tired of it!”

“...Sure, I’ll send you to the next mission”

“Good. Now could Reginn and I speak privately? We have more important matters to discuss”

After Umpeare and Kaizer left the room and Blodelshein checked to make sure they left the premises, the hero continued once more.

“So Reginn. I believe that after everything we learnt in Faust, it is more sure than ever that we must take control over Avangarden”

“...I know. I’m just not sure if the Goddess would approve of such behaviour”

“Think about it Reginn, we have two kingslayers as fellow heroes, Gaius and Sacrosanct, who is to say that there aren’t dozens more? If the Goddess approves of such behaviour for the freedom of the people, I believe she will approve of liberating Avangarden for the sake of its future”

“...I get it. I suppose we do have no choice. The demon lords have the advantage of having complete control over all resources in Sonosis if we gain control over Avangarden…”

“We’ll gain the upper hand” continued Blodelshein

“Fine. I believe that you have a plan already?”

“You know me well. There are just a few things we need to prepare”

“And how long will that take?”

“For a flawless takeover? Around… two years”

“Two years is nothing to a hero like me, but I’m not if the other heroes will agree”

“That is the exact reason we need two years. Not only do we need vast amounts of resources, we need to solidify our identity as a singular group, to unify our goal. So far, there are too many heroes with their own goals and ideals. We must first unite ourselves before we can unite Avangarden”

“So where do we begin?”

“...I was hoping you could convince Har-Meggido to our side”

“Do we need him…?”

“We will need every help we can get. The strength of Avangarden is not to be underestimated. Cadra hides more things above the surface than below it. I can already see many great powers yet undisturbed within the castle”

Reginn let out an audible sigh. He would need to train the turtle into acceptable shape before bringing him into Avagarden to battle.

“That is another reason it will take two years. So we better get started early”

“Fine,” said Reginn “But before I leave… How are Attila and Sivrit doing?”

“What? Are you worried?”

“They are still my students, even if they left me”

“They’re… doing fine. No need to worry about them”

“Good. Then I suppose I’ll see you later”

The second hero left the house and began heading toward Har-Meggido’s cave. Blodelshein did not want to tell him about the Goddess. Being the fanatic he is, he might even drop everything to return to the Goddess, which would not be good for the heroes. It’d be best to leave the Goddess to do her things and the heroes to their plans.

She looked outside the window. It was almost winter, the branches empty and light without leaves. The wind was cold and puddles began to freeze at night.

‘It’s good that Sonosis is warm in the winter’ thought Blodelshein while getting ready to leave for the demon kingdom. She was sure that many mysteries were waiting for her on the other side.

…

The next day, Poda-Bruss awoke the young heroes for a long day at school. With the ‘lead’ heroes all gone - Blodelshein away on her journey, Reginn training Har-Meggido and Siege now effectively living away from his home with Reina - the responsibility fell onto him.

This was not the first time I led others. He was the head guard of the royals after all, leading the other guards within the castle. However, the Orchestra advised him to be gentler with the immature heroes. They were still children after all.

He nulled the alarm ringing in their room which Kaizer and Umpeare had to share due to the lack of free occupancies. Umpeare obliged and sheepishly left the bottom bunker, while Kaizer continued her resistance, holding onto the blanket. He had no choice but to use force, but perhaps he used too much, causing Kaizer to tumble onto the floor along with the blanket.

“S-sorry…”

“Grr…”

Kaizer rubbed her head in pain, massaging the spot she landed on. Umpeare offered a helping hand, but Kaizer was in a foul mood and lightly slapped her away.

“The breakfast is ready downstairs,” reminded Poda-Bruss while heading out of the room

With Siege away, the cooking was mostly done by Satie. She was surprisingly talented in quickly mastering recipes as well as handling difficult ingredients safely. The hero explained that it was due to her spending most of the time in the wild or on the road, forcing her to adapt or die. However, there had to be some other factors as well. Street smarts could help you become a great cook, but it didn’t quite explain how she was familiar with so many expansive ingredients that should’ve been foreign to her.

Kaizer and Umpeare followed suit not long after. At the table awaited Orchestra and Sacrosanct, each having their sandwich. Sacrosanct had a long day of controlled demolition work to do at the labyrinth, safely imploding the maze and filling it. Orchestra, on the other hand, helped Poda-Bruss work on the general upkeeping of the group and the facilities. She fed the dragon when Siege wasn’t around, cleaned the house and helped with procuring materials.

Satie and Gaius were in the house as well, but the incubus hero seemed to be on bad terms with most heroes with a few exceptions including Satie, Siege and Blodelshein. The others seemed to be wary of his status as an incubus as well as his past status as a terrorist. Satie helped Gaius with his day-to-day life due to his new disability of having only one eye. Not only were his incubus abilities immensely weakened, but his vision was lacking with only half of his sight perceived.

Kaizer and Umpeare sat on opposite sides of the table next to Orchestra and Sacrosanct. Umpeare felt welcomed and safe around the majority of the heroes, but around Kaizer and Gaius, he couldn’t help but be on alert. Kaizer seemed to be wary of Umpeare as well for whatever reason.

Umpeare slowly began nibbling on the sandwich. He wasn’t feeling too hungry this morning… The hero was going to borrow Blodelshein’s uniform to head to an Academy, something he had never done in his whole life. Homeschooled for the entirety of his life, he was simply a hero from the rural side of the kingdom. Somehow, he was able to raise armies even though he believed he had no charisma or qualities of a leader at all.

However, unbeknownst to him, his talent had a second passive; the ability to activate a parental instinct in all who came across him. It was not a simple magic spell, but a complicated science, a balance between visual signals, pheromones and behaviour that even Reginn was not immune to.

It was a powerful passive, with only one weakness; it was useless against those with no parental instincts for humans or those who actively disliked him. The passive would be useless against most demons and demon lords, as they cared little for humans and despised heroes, and it was useless against Kaizer who seemed to hate him.

As Kaizer maintained her eye contact while gobbling up her portion, the door opened, revealing Siege’s return to the house for the first time in a few days. Behind her hid Reina, nervous about meeting the heroes for the first time.

“Siege! It’s good to see you again” said Poda-Bruss

“Yeah, it’s great to see you too,” replied Siege “Gaius, Satie, I’m glad you guys are getting comfortable around here”

“...Hmph, one would have to be a fool to reject such a fine establishment,” said Gaius

“Thank you. I won’t be here for too long though, I’m just here to visit Crimson and introduce Reina to you guys”

“Hoh, the demon spawn?”

“I suppose that’s one way of putting it,” said Siege, trying not to be bothered by the others’ perception of demons “but I’d like you guys to meet Reina. Reina, these are the heroes”

“...”

“N-nice to meet you, Reina” greeted Orchestra

Reina continued to hide behind Siege until she spotted Crimson in the backyard, the anti-demon lord rushing to meet her only friend.

“Are ya sure she’s mature enough to attend the academy?” asked Sacrosanct, as Reina rushed past him

“Well, I had to send her to the academy as soon as possible. She’s a bit shy, but trust me, Reina’s a lot stronger and smarter than she looks” answered Siege “But that’s also why I’m here. I heard Kaizer and the new hero were going to the academy today. If I may, I’d like to request you two to help Reina at school”

“No! I have to babysit two kids now?” groaned Kaizer

“I-I’m happy to help”

“Thank you. Could I ask for your name, young lady?”

“It’s Umpeare… Also, I’m a guy”

“Hm. I see, sorry about that. I was just a bit confused due to your… uniform”

“Y-yeah, I get that a lot”

Siege followed Reina to the backyard to make sure she wouldn’t dirty her uniform too much as well as to greet Crimson. It was truly a tragedy that no pets - including dragons - were allowed in the apartment, but it was a good incentive for Reina to visit the heroes’ abode and familiarize herself with the group.

“Whatever, I’m getting out of here!”

Kaizer ran out of the front door carelessly, forcing the others to hurry up if they didn’t want to get lost.

“W-wait! What about your backpack?!”

Umpeare was torn in a dilemma whether he should wait for Reina or catch up to Kaizer. In the end, his hesitation forced him to wait.

“Well, Reina, it looks like it’s time to go to the Academy,” said Siege

However, Reina did not let go of Crimson and Siege, not wanting to leave the only people she knew.

“I know it’s a bit scary, but you have a kind hero to look after you, a hero just like me! I won’t be there for you every time so it’s a good chance to make other friends. Now here’s your backpack,” said Siege while equipping the navy blue backpack on the anti-demon lord’s back “And make sure to hold onto Umpeare, okay?”

Siege led Reina to the hero, who held her hand to make sure she wouldn’t get lost.

“I thank you for your service, Umpeare”

“N-no problem…”

“Well, then I think it’s the perfect time for you two to head out. If you need any help, Reina should have a phone number as well as spare change in her backpack, so make sure to call me. You do know how to use a phone booth right?”

“A phone booth?”

“Huh. Well, Reina should know what a phone booth is and she also knows how to call me. There are also instructions in the stations as well. Anyhow, I’ll be away now. Have a good day at school!”

Siege walked into the basement to retrieve more material for the apartment including food and furniture. Meanwhile, Umpeare leads Reina into the open field outside of the building, trying to figure out where Kaizer went under the infinite blue sky welcoming the beginning of a new day.