The moment they stepped outside, Ian immediately grabbed Empress’s collar and shouted, “Go back!”
“…Summoner, calm down. It’s already too late.”
“We can do it! The cooldown is short—if you stall for time with the firepower of Phoenix and Ifrit…!”
“Not that.”
Empress cut him off and pointed to the back of Ian’s hand. Etched there was the pattern representing each summon.
One symbol—a sword wrapped in flames—was quietly fading away.
Theresia was gone.
Realizing this, Ian lowered his head in silence.
“Master… I’m sorry. It was my fault…”
“No, it’s not your fault.”
Even as Anna spoke, Ian remained consumed by guilt. The burden of a summoner was heavy. Like a commander, a summoner must assess the enemy’s strength and devise a strategy accordingly.
If a summon dies while carrying out those orders, how could the fault lie with the summon?
It’s not a crime to be weak, is it?
“Ian…”
“It’s fine…”
The girls tried to comfort him, but they didn’t truly understand the pain of losing a summon. They hadn’t shared that bond. They didn’t know how to grieve it—let alone how to console him.
They waited only briefly, expecting Ian to recover quickly.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“Uh, huh?”
“What are you doing? Move, now.”
To their surprise, Ian snapped back to action in mere seconds, issuing commands with composure.
The girls couldn’t help but wonder if something was wrong with him.
“Ian?”
“What?”
“Are you… okay?”
“Theresia, she’s dead…”
Unable to hold back any longer, Noah cautiously spoke up. She looked at Ian with a mixture of concern and confusion.
Ian turned to her with a faint, almost bitter smile.
Of course, he wasn’t okay.
Anyone would cry if a character they loved died in a story—how much more painful, then, when it’s a real summon who fought beside you and followed you?
But grief doesn’t last forever.
“I’m fine.”
“How…?”
“She can be saved.”
“…Huh? You can bring her back?”
“That’s right.”
The girls blinked in disbelief. Theresia had died to a demon. Normally, a summon lost that way couldn’t be recovered. Could there really be another way?
Ian began explaining how to revive a fallen summon.
“All we have to do is kill the demon that took her and retrieve Theresia’s heirloom from its body.”
“No way… Wouldn’t it be digested?”
“Sorry. There’s no such system.”
Ian’s tone was matter-of-fact as he explained it to the girls. Unlike them—fully immersed in this other world—he was a semi-systemic being.
Theresia, summoned through the game system, also belonged to that system. In that system, being killed by a demon wasn’t a permanent end.
If a summon falls, they can be revived by defeating the demon responsible.
Ian hadn’t shaken his head earlier because he’d lost her forever—he just found the task annoying.
The girls didn’t understand the full picture, but one thing became clear to them: Ian wasn’t a heartless, emotionless person.
“Let’s move. It’s dangerous to linger here.”
Ian urged the group forward. Even though they had teleported, there was a chance one of the Four Heavenly Kings was still nearby.
They didn’t know exactly where they were, but one thing was certain—it was best to get far away.
“Empress, erase our traces.”
“Don’t worry. Who do you think I am?”
With the help of the Great Witch, Ian and his party continued through the Demon Continent, careful to cover their tracks. Like wanderers searching for an oasis in the desert, they pressed on—step by step—across the demon-infested lands.
***
After absorbing one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Richard the Heavenly Demon Sword went straight to the Demon King’s Castle.
The gap in strength between the Demon King and the Four Heavenly Kings wasn’t that wide. The Demon King had unified them not just through power, but through overwhelming charisma.
Richard, however, had bowed only to raw power. Now the time had come to test whether the Demon King was still worthy of his loyalty.
[Richard? What’s going on all of a sudden—]
[Keek! Richard! Have you lost your mind?!]
He carved his way through every demon within the castle walls, absorbing their power as he made his way to the throne room.
There, within his chambers, stood the Demon King—sniffing.
“You’re crying again.”
“…Heavenly Demon Sword.”
“What’s with that ridiculous name? I’m Richard.”
Drawing his sword, Richard stared the Demon King down.
Before she had come to power, demons had no names. They were nameless beasts who killed and died without purpose.
She had given them names—and with names, chains.
“I hated it. You gave us names and made us obey.”
He detested it. The fate of demons bound by identity, leashed by titles…
‘Now, the demons will regain their freedom. I will return to those days when I fought with honor and lost my life.’
“Are you here to kill me?”
The Demon King looked up at Richard.
A powerful aura radiated from her, making it obvious at a glance—she had become stronger than before.
But there was no need for concern. Demons cannot defeat the Demon King. It’s not merely a gap in power—it’s more of a fixed concept…
Chae Aeeng—!
The blade of the Heavenly Demon Sword slashed toward the Demon King at the speed of light.
In that brief moment, the Demon King realized Richard had devoured the other Four Heavenly Kings and grown stronger.
She couldn’t follow the movement with her eyes. But it didn’t matter. The Demon King thrust her head toward the blade.
“Kill me.”
‘If only I could kill her—’ Seeing the Demon King willingly embrace death, Richard halted his strike.
“…What are you doing?”
“See? In the end, you can’t bring yourself to kill me.”
“I just thought there was no point in killing you if you weren’t going to resist.”
“Even having that thought means it’s already set in stone.”
After delivering such a weighty line, the Demon King laughed coldly at Richard.
“We’re all just toy dolls in a model garden.”
Richard couldn’t accept that. So, he decided to break her logic. That was the reason he had come this far.
He slashed his sword at the Demon King’s neck.
Sigh—!
The Demon King’s decapitated head floated into the air.
Calmly, she reached up, grabbed it, and reattached it to her body.
“…You are.”
Her eyes sparkled. Even as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, you couldn’t defy fate. Only those who were written to do so could resist it.
And the Demon King had been designed to die only by the hand of the hero—the player. Yet, Richard had still managed to cut her.
“You devoured it!”
She shouted in joy, her voice filled with delight. At last, she had found a chance to break free from the chains of fate.
Wasting no time she killed Richard in an instant and began devouring him.
In the end, Richard could not resist the Demon King. Even though he had absorbed a part of the player, it ultimately made him a demon.
Now, the Demon King had acquired two powers and one summon. With greedy eyes, she turned her attention to the summon that seemed to be a hero.
“Ahhh—”
With this, she could finally strike back at the b!tch who had designed this cursed world.
***
“Heh, hey—Ian… Let’s rest a little…”
“…Is that so?”
Looking at Syrah, who was drenched in sweat, Ian couldn’t bring himself to urge her forward or tell her they were almost there.
They had no idea where they were or how far they had left to go.
In such extreme conditions, forcing their way onward was not an option.
“Let’s rest here.”
After scanning the area, Ian confirmed it was safe and instructed Empress to erect a barrier.
It was a space where ordinary humans struggled to even breathe.
Once Empress activated the barrier, the girls collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
“Huff—I can finally breathe…”
“This is too much…”
Stella and Syrah, silent from exhaustion, slumped onto the floor. Their clothes were tattered, and bits of their underwear were exposed.
Yet, not caring about appearances, they flapped their clothing to ventilate the stifling heat.
“It’s hot!”
“Hah… This feels better…”
Whether the ozone layer had been pierced or the sun was simply too harsh, its rays beat down mercilessly on the sandy desert, which reflected the heat back up.
For the group, whose bodies were wrapped tightly to protect against contamination, this place was unbearable.
Ian averted his eyes from the girls’ exposed b0dies and looked at Noah.
She was just as exhausted, but she silently pulled food and water from her bag and began preparing to eat.
“Ian, here…”
“…Thanks.”
Taking what she offered, Ian immediately swallowed the water. To make the food last, he chewed a mixture of water and rations, then looked around to determine their direction.
‘When the hell is this going to end?’
Thoughts swirled in his mind—where was the Demon King? Was he just going to die here in the desert?
Then suddenly, the sand shifted and a demon emerged from beneath it.
“Anna! Empress!”
“Yes, Master!”
Ian immediately sent the summons to engage. But upon seeing the summoned beasts running toward them, the demon raised both hands and shouted:
[H-Hey, I surrender! Help me!]
“…Surrender?”
Anna halted in front of the demon, unsure what to do. She turned to look at Ian.
After a moment’s thought, Ian gave the order.
“Empress, capture and bind it.”