<Quest Complete> Infamy Points +1000p
My blood was still boiling. These absolute pieces of trash. How dare they kidnap Luna. Luna is an NPC I actually care about. Setting all that aside, she’s also a genuinely kind and plucky apprentice priestess.
Originally, when I played through the Light faction route, the event that got triggered was some nameless extra being kidnapped instead of Luna. But because I’d burned the temple down so thoroughly, Luna had ended up leaving the temple and staying at an inn… and that’s apparently what made her a target.
Still, at least I made it in time.
I took a deep breath and checked the total infamy points I’d accumulated so far. The number floating before my eyes: 3000p.
2000 points from sacrificing the souls of twelve heretics just moments ago, and 1000 points from completing the sudden quest titled “Offer 30 Souls.” Maybe it was because of the novelty of them being heretics who served the Demon King — each soul had been assigned a fairly generous point value. That brought the total to 3000p.
I stared at that number and finally managed to settle my nerves.
Right. The process was a mess, but looking at the results alone, everything worked out. I gathered more than enough points, and I kept the person I needed to keep safe. That’s good enough.
I poured all the points into leveling up my skills. The plan was to use those upgraded skills to destroy the Holy Knights’ storehouse, collect the points from that, and then grow Theo to age eighteen.
Shane (Half-Demon, 125 years old)
Stats (□/10)
Strength 6
Magic Power 5
Resistance 7
Agility 8
Accuracy 5
Skills
Unique Skills:
Flame LV. 3 → LV. 4
Stealth LV. 2 → LV. 3
Disguise LV. 1
Acquired Skills:
Lockpicking LV. 1 → LV. 4
The higher the skill level, the more points it demanded exponentially, so none of the levels shot up dramatically. Still, Lockpicking LV. 4 was enough to put me squarely in the category of a master thief, by most standards.
Now, at last, I was truly ready to lay my hands on the Holy Knights’ armory.
I still had 100 points left over, and I kept those in reserve just in case.
Either way, the storehouse had to burn tonight — no question about it. The reason was simple. Most of the Holy Knights were currently away, dispatched to suppress the monsters that had appeared near the capital. Back when I was playing as Lihen, I’d personally taken part in that battle.
The ones left behind at the headquarters were the comparatively less experienced knights. In other words, an easier force to deal with. Having grown Stealth all the way to LV. 3, I was confident I could find an opening.
From the start, my goal was never to overpower the entire knighthood and win by force. I had no reason to pull something like that — and no capacity for it, either. The objective was one and only one: set fire to the storehouse, damage the equipment, and vanish as fast as possible. For that objective, there was a realistic chance of success.
I’m sorry, knights. I’ll make it up to you — I’ll save up a ton of points and buy you better gear from the shop. Something far more valuable than anything I’m about to destroy.
Goddess of Dawn, Repinal, please grant me permission to be a righteous villain once again today.
Mumbling a ridiculous little prayer under my breath to shake off the tension, I steadied myself.
The Holy Knights’ armory still had sentries posted in front of it today. Honestly, somewhere along the way I’d started to wonder what the point even was. Even the Number 7 storehouse — supposedly the least valuable — was layered with several locks crafted by master artisans, and the structure itself wasn’t cast from ordinary iron but a specially forged alloy mixed with magic stones. No ordinary force could break through it.
Rules were rules, though. The knights on sentry duty tonight were trading jokes with each other as they stood watch in front of the storehouse.
“Even the 13th Legion Commander wouldn’t be able to get in here.”
“Forget the 13th Legion Commander — not even the Demon King could open this thing.”
That was when it happened. The wind blew. Suddenly, an oppressive weight settled over the area around the storehouse, as though the very air had sunk. The flames of the lanterns shuddered in unison — and then went out all at once.
“……?”
The knights tensed and reached for their swords. In that same moment, the silhouette of a man materialized from the deep shadows pooled in front of the storehouse. His face was unrecognizable. Only the pendant bearing a red gemstone gleamed like something out of a nightmare.
The 13th Legion Commander had arrived.
“Enemy!”
The knights surged forward the instant the cry rang out — but it was already too late. A wall of black fire erupted upward, cutting off the space between the Legion Commander and the knights.
The Legion Commander didn’t even turn his head. He stepped up to the storehouse. A hand clad in black gloves swept across the lock. The mechanism came undone without a sound — no click of tumblers, no scrape of metal against metal. As if it had simply always been open.
“What the — what is this…”
Someone breathed the words in barely a whisper. The Legion Commander opened the door. The weapons stacked inside came into view — spears and swords, armor and shields. The pride of the Holy Knights.
The Legion Commander snapped his fingers. Black flames bloomed from every direction. The ominous fire swallowed the weapons whole, twisting and churning in an uncanny way. As the equipment burned, it let out a low, unsettling groan. Swords and shields lost their shape one by one and crumbled into ash.
The enemy did not stop. While Storehouse Number 7 collapsed inward on itself, he was already moving toward the next target. The Legion Commander dissolved into the darkness before the flames had even finished dying — and within a few breaths, he was standing atop the roof of Storehouse Number 6.
The knights responded quickly.
“He’s above us!”
“Mage, light!”
A sphere of light floated up into the air. The Legion Commander crouched low at the edge of the high rooftop and leapt, shifting direction mid-air. A movement that would have been impossible for a human. The black cloak billowed in the wind, spreading out like a pair of wings.
The knights launched a coordinated assault. Swords rushed in and spears flew. Arrows rained down in a torrent. It seemed like some had landed — and yet it also seemed like all of them had missed. Whatever the case, one thing was certain: the Legion Commander still looked completely unharmed. The pitch-black shadow flickered once, then melted into the darkness.
“Damn it, where did he —!”
Before the words were even finished, the door to Storehouse Number 6 swung open. This time, the Legion Commander didn’t even step inside. He simply reached a hand through the half-open gap and let a single ember drop to the floor. Black flames came surging in like a wave.
Storehouse Number 5.
This time, the knights had formed up in advance. A wall of shields stood ready, and a magic circle reinforced against fire had been drawn across the floor.
“Hold them back — no matter what!”
“Feel free to try.”
The Legion Commander gave a low laugh and raised his hand. Fire shot up from the ground and seized the knights by the ankles. A spike of sudden, instinctive terror raked across their minds — and the formation broke, just for a heartbeat.
The Legion Commander didn’t miss that fraction of an instant. He stepped lightly onto the top of the shield wall and vaulted over it. Storehouse Number 5’s door opened. And once again, the sound of snapping fingers rang out. Black fire erupted.
The last one to burn was Storehouse Number 4.
By then, the Holy Knights had descended into full panic. It was even more devastating given that their key personnel were all away. Across the four storehouses that burned one after another, the Legion Commander hadn’t been properly caught even once. Attacks never connected. No demonic energy could be sensed. The location he appeared from was different every time.
The flames roared up in a chain, as if resonating with one another. Beneath the pitch-black night sky — as dark as the Legion Commander’s uniform — four of the Holy Knights’ weapon storehouses were burning ferociously.
And at the center of it all, the Legion Commander slipped back into the shadows once more. What remained was burning wreckage, knights frozen with swords still in hand, and a deep, bone-deep terror and sense of defeat that had embedded itself permanently into every one of their minds.
“Ah, that fucking hurts…”
Are you trying to turn a person into a porcupine, you knights?
I clenched my teeth and grabbed the arrow lodged in my shoulder. The moment I applied force, a pain like metal scraping against bone shot through me. The arrowhead pulled free and the blood it had dammed came gushing out.
“Hah… hah…”
Two in the side, two more in the thigh. I pulled each arrow out through the same process. My breath grew ragged and groans slipped through my lips.
I’d powered through five arrows in the body on sheer dignity alone — but now I was truly at my limit. My muscles trembled with every movement, and every inhale felt like the wounds were tearing back open. My heart hammered, radiating the pain out through my entire body.
I opened the shop window. The system offered me an item suited for the occasion.
<Looks Fine on the Outside? A Bargain Recovery Potion>
100p
The name was a little unsettling, honestly — but it was the only item I could afford with the points I had left. I drank the potion immediately. A bitter liquid slid down my throat, and the wounds began closing at a rapid pace. The torn flesh knit back together and the bleeding stopped. Faint marks that looked almost like scars remained, but at this point, that was good enough.
There was one problem, though. My body had healed, but the pain hadn’t gone anywhere. A dull, throbbing ache lingered in every spot where the arrows had been.
I should have saved a few more points if it was going to come to this. I regretted it — too late.
Meanwhile, the knights were completely preoccupied with putting out the storehouse fires. I could see them running every which way, hauling water. I picked one of them and quietly followed him.
He was heading toward the well. Fortunately, there was no one else at the well at that moment. I moved in quickly and struck the back of his neck precisely with the edge of my hand. The knight slumped without even managing a proper groan. I stripped off his helmet and armor and put them on myself, then stuffed the unconscious knight into a nearby thicket.
And then, as if nothing had happened at all, I slipped in among the other knights.
In front of Storehouse Number 1. I pressed my hand against the door as if I were running a routine inspection, and quietly activated my Lockpicking skill. I eased apart the threads of magic energy little by little, disabling the lock without drawing any attention.
I was nearly done dismantling the seal.
“Do routine inspections usually take this long?”
A voice came from behind me. It belonged to the most seasoned-looking knight there — one who carried the unmistakable air of experience.
“What was tonight’s password?”
“……”
There was no way I would know something like that. I pretended to mull it over for a moment, then grinned.
“Long live the Demon King?”
Every knight’s gaze snapped onto me at once.
“It’s him!”
At the exact same moment, I ripped apart the final seal. The storehouse door flew wide open.
