Strawberry Devil in a Fantasy World

True to the intelligence provided by Mera, without any sign given, magic itself was completely sealed within this vicinity. Though, the affected area was only limited to the audience hall. Outside of the audience hall, the magical sealing barrier was still in effect meaning if I left this area, I could still use fey magic freely.

Looks like it really only affects magic and not abilities and traits. In that case, it just means I can't use fey magic.

Clink, clink, clink.

In the nick of time, I flicked away with my fingers three poison coated steel needles aimed at my neck. No matter how well this assassin tried to conceal herself, it was all useless if I already pinpointed her position.

"Such old tricks. If you want to play, we can play during the Hero King selection tournament. Let us leave in peace. You don't want me getting serious here."

"I see you're not just all talk." Mae, the female hero who had been hiding, strolled into view blocking our exit. "Let's see if you can get past me."

This is getting exciting! I really want to play with them! Ehehe...

"Kanoko, do you mind if I play along with them for a bit?"

"Sorry, now that I have personally confirmed the situation with the Hero King, the rest is up to you. I'll report everything as I have seen."

"Leave it to me."

After enshrouding her in my void barrier, I sent her back to her room in Vera.

I slowly got up, straightened my back and gazed into the Hero King's eyes. He was a little surprised but otherwise remained composed.

"Surprised, are we? You think I didn't notice those mages setting up that sealing barrier? You take me for a pretty fool?" I smirked teasingly all the while infusing mana into my eyes.

Just then, the female hero dashed behind me, dagger in hand, plunging it towards my heart.

Silly, not on my watch.

I spun around, fluidly catching her dagger between my thumb and two other fingers. With my other hand, I landed a chop on her elbow with a loud cracking sound before kicking her into a wall.

Clunk. The dagger fell before me.

To be honest, I didn't think I could actually use any martial arts. That bit probably didn't count since the moment she tried to attack me, I had watched her every movement in slow motion. It really was fantastical with these celestial eyes.

It's nothing personal. If you're being forced to do this, well, that's too bad. I would hate to cripple such a beauty. When you're against me, expect no mercy. Similarly, you wouldn't have mercy on me if I was the weaker one.

"Ugh... Your Majesty, I apologize for my blunder."

She held her arm bent in an awkward direction. Her face was in agony and her eyes was filled with uncertainty from this short exchange.

"Jaco Spiriard, spending resources to assault an invitee while leaving the demons in your country unattended, stealing technologies and intellectual properties of a neighboring country, waging war on a nation for their resources, you have lost your ways as a hero."

"Non-sense. You're blabbering non-sense!" His voice exploded, objecting my statement.

I was right on the money. Now, where's your sword? Subspace perhaps?

Currently, I held both |void| and |chaos| trait. With just the former, I could drain soul energy with a single touch. With the latter, even if I wasn't fully familiar with it, I could erode soul with a single touch. Also, the |chaos| trait allowed me to produce extremely corrosive energy capable of eroding or disintegrating matter. As for other abilities that came with |chaos|, they weren't useful when I already had the |void| trait.

"Will you not change your ways?" I asked in kind. At this point, I was already giving up on him.

"Hmph, do you know what my goal is?" He asked with discontent while still sitting unmoved on his throne.

"If you intend to say the end justify the means then I'm afraid I can't agree with you."

"Allow me to enlighten you then, fellow hero. Did you know? The world we live in restricts our unlimited potential? Why do we have this level system? Why is it that only some are privileged to evolve? Do you know how frustrating it was that the moment I was about to evolve, I was granted a hero status? How is that fair? I wished to lead humanity into prosperity and unlock their potential but only for the system to halt my growth indefinitely and limit my lifespan. That is true for all mortal races."

Hmm?? Heroes don't get to choose? What? Echo, is that true?

[Yes.]

What was he about to evolve into if it wasn't for hero?

[Insufficient access.]

Since Echo wasn't going to provide a proper answer, I followed up with the Hero King with a response, "And how does discrimination against beastfolks help you achieve your goal of breaking free of the system? They too are limited. Everyone is in the same situation."

"Simple. We needed an external factor and threat. They are merely animals sacrificed for the greater good, to unify the humans under one banner. It is only through unity that we'll be able to conquer anything. Just look at our technological advances in the past few decades. It's only a matter of time before we overtake the Federation, those scaly lizards."

His claims weren't things I could verify since I hadn't been around for that long. Certainly, from the way Oortez reacted, humans had come a long way.

"Unifying humans, that's certainly noble in a way, but the sacrifices are on both sides. I don't see how any of it could help you break free of the system."

"There's no advancement without sacrifices. My people are willing to sacrifice themselves for a better future and they all share my vision."

Oortez said something similar before. Perhaps they could get along just fine.

"No, not everyone agrees. Just as you are trying to force me to submit, you have done the same to countless others. Isn't that right?"

"Bah, they're minorities. Here in this country, we go by majority rules. There will always be a few dissenting voices. As a righteous ruler, I have tried to re-educate them. If they still won't join us, then they're just rebels. That is no different from sedition. Instead of executing them outright, they should be used advance our glorious nation in their own way. They should be overjoyed!"

Yep, he's definitely twisted, and beyond redemption. He still hasn't shared his plan with me. Hmm...What's my best move?

If he had a reasonable circumstance, then perhaps I might try... But, there was no way for me to erase the system. It just wasn't possible for me. Did I agree with limits? I certainly did not. They seemed quite arbitrary to me, in fact.

"Ah huh, and how are they helping you break the system? Your efforts too are futile. Period. Just give it up and make peace. Can you at least do that much?"

"My time is wasted on you."

He stood up and walked down to meet me at eye level.

Here we go... Let's see where he pulls out his sword. We're finally getting to the good part!

Certainly, he did not fail to impress me.

He clasped his two hands together. In between his palms, as his hands separated, a sheathed sword slid into reality from a mini portal until finally his left grabbed onto the embellished sheath and fully extracted it from the other side. His right hand rested on the sword hilt.

So it really is in a subspace. Echo, is he an administrator? How does he just open a subspace like that?

[He is not an administrator. The action was not solely of his own.]

Oh shit, you're kidding me.

If I was just some random person, I wouldn't have noticed at all. However, I was an upper celestial race. The ability to see energy links came with the territory.

It was only when I focused on the end of the hilt did I noticed an energetic link between the sword, Lightsplitter, and the Hero King, Jaco Spiriard. This could only mean one thing. The sword was a living being that had contracted with the hero, or vice versa.

"Consider it an honor to die before me." He announced without a shred of emotion.

He drew a sword with pitch-black blade that seemingly bent the light at the edges. Though, I knew just by looking that the blade was actually absorbing light within the room.

[Level 70 Fey (weapon);
Species: Sword;
Physical: 499/499;
<Health: 499>
<Force: N/A>
<Speed: N/A>
Spiritual: 499/499;
<Mana: 499>
<Mass: 499>
<Luck: N/A>
Traits: Nether Edge, Force Majeure, Enhanced Durability, Enhanced Resistances, Immortality;
Abilities: Absolute Severance, Soul Reaper, Shadow Cleaver;
Blessings: Will of the Netherworld;
Description: A legendary sword that is connected to the Netherworld.]

Ahh... So the blessing allowed it to be stored in a different world. Still, pulling out the big gun at the start of the fight? Mister Hero, you're ruining the suspense. You're supposed to struggle first before taking that out. What am I to do with you? You clearly haven't read any decent fairy tales. My mind rambled on a bit. Haah... Well, well, that's clearly a dangerous weapon. Where's the Netherworld anyway? I'm a bit curious.

"Hero King Jaco, interesting weapon you got there. Do you intend to send me to the Netherworld?"

He snickered before replying with, "You'll just have to find out."

Woah there... That was totally uncalled for!