Isekai Online Game Developer

The deafening roar of excitement.

In that frenzy, the Demon Team and the Academy Team stepped into reality.

“Ahhhhh!! We lost this?!!”

“Ughhh! This is absurd!”

“This is ridiculous! We had already won!!! Waaahhh!!!”

The victory they just let slip away was right before their eyes.

The Demon Team was bouncing with rage.

On the other hand, the humans were in a festive mood.

The audience was chanting Dennyan’s name, and the Academy Team members were hugging each other.

Amidst it all, the hero of victory, Dennyan, simply wore a subtle smile.

“And the winner is the Academy Team!”

-Wowwwwwwwww!!

The audience erupted in cheers.

They were all praising the members of the Academy Team.

Among them were occasional voices cursing the demons.

“In a moment, we will have the award ceremony and the closing event. Let’s give a big round of applause and cheers to all the players who worked hard!”

A brief break to prepare for the award ceremony.

The Demon Team and the Academy Team members stepped down from the stage.

The backstage was also in a frenzy.

Even the other eliminated human teams cheered for the Academy Team.

“…I feel a bit dirty.”

“It’s annoying. Somehow.”

“Hmm…”

In the meantime, the demons felt completely like outsiders.

As if they had been defeated! It was that kind of gaze they received.

Despite being the enemies of humans, they had never been subjected to such a look before.

They had never communicated with humans outside of war.

The demons felt strangely melancholic.

Then, moments later, the awards.

“Next, let’s hear the thoughts of the Demon Team, who secured second place in COL.”

After the Auto Chess awards concluded, it was the turn of the Demon Team.

In war, there’s no such thing as second place, but in the COL Championships, even in defeat, second place was an honor.

Of course, the humans did not cheer for the demons’ second place.

Feeling somewhat unsettled, Lumia stood before the voice amplification magic.

“Hello. I am the Demon King Sama.”

Once again, trying hard to smile, Demon King Lumia began to speak.

At first, humans would think, ‘Is that really the Demon King?’ but now they were silent, listening to her words.

Of course, their gazes still held contempt.

“I want to first thank the Empire for allowing our demons to participate in the COL Championships. It was really, really enjoyable.”

At that point, Lumia’s mouth paused, no, it paused for quite some time.

A calm silence.

Rai felt a strange emotion as he looked at Lumia while she gazed at the audience.

A sea of humans crowded in the audience like ants.

Lumia had once been one of them and had been abandoned by humans.

There was a time when she wanted to belong among them, and now she knew she could not.

Still, deep down, without trusting anyone, what Lumia longed for was…

“…Actually, Demon King Sama is very old. At least several hundred years old in human years.”

With that sudden confession, people began to stir.

Among them, some humans exclaimed, “No way…!”

Most of them were either regular viewers of Lumia’s broadcasts or had just become her fans, yet they couldn’t reveal that she was a demon.

“And originally, Demon King Sama lived in the human world. Because half of Demon King Sama’s blood is human blood.”

Lumia calmly recounted her story.

Born half-human, half-demon in the human world, she developed a self-awareness, lived as an adventurer, and was ultimately rejected by humans, crossing over to the demon realm.

She fought for the demons as a general but was betrayed by the demons as well.

And she shared her story of how she became the Demon King and arrived here.

Lumia warmly smiled and poured out her heart to the humans.

“…So participating in this COL Championships was immensely enjoyable for Demon King Sama! Regardless of whether you are human or demon, coming together and enjoying the game rather than hating each other… it was truly enjoyable.”

Yet, still, a tear that could not be contained formed in her eyes.

The glistening tear, triggered by her moving smile, fell drop by drop.

“D-Demon King!”

“It’s fine. Just for a moment…”

That alone was enough to stir her young heart.

“Next, we will announce the winners. The Academy Team.”

After briefly reviving the situation, it was the turn of the winners.

The Academy Team was receiving their awards.

The audience began to roar with enthusiastic cheers, and when the hero of victory, Dennyan, raised the trophy, everyone began chanting his name.

-DENN-YAN! DENN-YAN! DENN-YAN! DENN-YAN!

One by one, the members shared their thoughts on their victory.

Finally, it was Dennyan’s turn.

With his usual calm expression, Dennyan stepped onto the stage and opened his mouth.

“The final match was more challenging than any before.”

The first words from the ‘God’.

The audience was taken aback.

Dennyan had never said such a thing before.

His matches always unfolded through perfect calculations and strategies.

No matter how difficult a match seemed, it was all part of his plan.

But by saying this now, it implied even he was uncertain about the match.

“However, it was the most enjoyable match of all.”

His victory speech continued fluidly.

He was known for his concise acceptance speeches, yet today was longer than usual.

“…And I would like to give applause to the Demon Team for creating a splendid match.”

-!!!

The audience gasped in surprise.

Until now, no one had ever directly praised the Demon Team like this.

“I was born after the conclusion of the human-demon war, so I don’t know what happened back then. Furthermore, this is my first time seeing a demon in person.”

Though some gazes towards him shifted, Dennyan spoke without a care.

“Yet the demons I met in the game were the most courteous players. They earnestly engaged in the game, maintaining decorum in battle regardless of winning or losing.”

The demons looked surprised.

Surely, they never expected a human to say such things.

“And this time in the tournament, just like before, they played with impeccable manners, and I believe that was what enabled us to produce such brilliant matches like the finals.”

However, perhaps this was something only a young gamer like Dennyan could say.

“I pondered deeply before saying this. But after hearing the Demon King’s thoughts, I felt compelled to speak out. I don’t know what the future holds. But I want to say to the demon participants.”

All eyes and ears were on Dennyan in that moment.

With a calm voice, he continued.

“Thank you for providing us with a wonderful match. And I hope we can battle together again next year. For COL, and for peace.”

As Dennyan stepped down from the podium.

Amidst the daze, cheers erupted from the audience.

-WOOOOOOOOOOO-!

-He is truly a god!

-DENN-YAN! DENN-YAN! DENN-YAN! DENN-YAN!

The COL Championships had ended, but the heat only continued to rise.

*

“It’s still incredibly lively.”

“At this rate, he’s practically a god. He probably has more followers than His Majesty.”

“They say he’s really busy these days. He became even more famous after his victory speech.”

Galleard, Rikal, and I flipped through the newspaper in the Illusion Tower, chatting.

The pages were filled with articles about the COL Championships, demons, and Dennyan.

[The Demons Who Wish for Peace. Is That the Truth?]

[The Story of the Half-Human, Half-Demon Demon King That Shook the Continent. Rapidly Increasing Viewership for ‘Twatch’ Demon King Sama Broadcast.]

[He Who Embraced Even Demons. Is He Truly a God?]

[The Popularity of the Academy’s I-SPORTS Department has Skyrocketed Since the COL Championships. The Competition Ratio This Year: 100,000 to 1.]

[What Will Happen to the Relationship Between Demons and Humans Going Forward? Can We Really Trust the Demon King’s Words?]

[Even Amidst Uncertain Gazes, the Popularity of Demon King Sama Remains. Will She Become the ‘Shadow of Zebit’?]

.

.

.

The foretold human-demon war is still hundreds of years away, so we can’t tell for now.

But one thing is for certain: Lumia has no desire to fight humans whatsoever.

As long as she remains the Demon King, there will be no war when that time comes.

It’ll probably just be petty squabbles within the COL.

“Well, I’m just glad it ended safely. Nothing we worried about happened.”

“That Demon King is completely different from the previous Demon Lords. There’s absolutely none of that typical wickedness.”

Galleard reminisced about the past, recounting stories of the former Demon Lord.

Lumia certainly doesn’t embody the terrifying image of a Demon King at all.

“Well. Isn’t that a good thing? After all, the demons’ goal isn’t to conquer the human world.”

“Right. In fact, the demons’ enemy is the Celestial Realm. The goddess giving revelations at times may well be to prevent the demons from wreaking havoc in the midlands.”

“…Did you know that, Galleard?”

“I didn’t know during my time as a hero. But now it seems humans were merely being used by the celestial entities to inhibit the demons. And that seems quite reasonable.”

Perhaps rather than issuing revelations, it was more of a directive for their own safety from the Celestial Realm.

Thinking like that, the human-demon war might not be inevitable.

Of course, only they would truly know the details.

But one thing is certain: for the time being, everything seems fine as it is.

If everyone is happy, isn’t that what matters?

Thus, the second COL Championships concluded with a beautiful resolution.

And shortly after, the news that shook the world came from ‘Twatch’ regarding the [Empire's Light].