Chapter 141: The Protagonist

The Demon King’s words that command death.

Ian thought they’d attack right away—but the level was far too high. The barriers laid by the Empress were effortlessly bypassed. 

The spirit of death reached Ian.

“Ugh—!?”

In that moment, his heart stopped. 

Ian collapsed, clutching his chest, and the other summons immediately formed a protective line in front of him.

—I’d been distracted.

Blue Dragon clutched his own chest and sent an electric current into Ian’s back. After a brief delay, Ian’s heart restarted, triggered by the electrical signal.

Revived from the brink of death, Ian slowly rose and glared at the Demon King, a smirk forming on his lips.

“So it’s true…”

In the game, there was no mechanic allowing direct attacks on the player. That was the standard. A game where an unstoppable boss could kill the player without recourse would be cursed as a garbage game.

But the Archangel—and now the Demon King—had defiled the system. They no longer followed those ‘rules.’

[Why?]

The Demon King stared at the revived Ian with clear confusion. 

Unlike the great heroes or supernatural summoners, Ian was just an ordinary human. 

A mere summoner.

It was impossible. It was a bug. Bugs must be eliminated. Ian Clark must disappear.

[No, no. Don’t remember. Don’t let it come back!]

As the Demon King fell into sudden madness, Ian saw his opening. He commanded his summons.

The summons swiftly took their positions, carefully executing special moves while avoiding friendly fire.

“Repentance Strike!”

“Come, Meteor!”

“Domain Declaration!”

A beam of light charged with divine energy shot forth. Meteorites rained from the sky. The earth blazed, turning into a hellish battlefield.

Each reaper released a breath imbued with their unique attributes. A symphony of ultimate moves erupted, so overwhelming that it seemed even the Demon King couldn’t possibly endure it.

[Event announcement.]

Yet the Demon King didn’t block the attacks. Didn’t even try to dodge them.

She took them all—head-on.

[Demon Awakening. Cutscene inserted.]

The moment the attacks landed, they simply passed through the Demon King’s body.

She was in another dimension.

“What!?”

[Cogs of a system that work for mankind…]

[That’s why I told you not to come.]

The Demon King spoke—once in Ian’s mind, and again aloud.

Both voices were hers.

Ian reeled in confusion, shaken by the overlapping voices—one echoing inside, the other from the Demon King herself.

He tried to move.

But his body wouldn’t respond. 

Time, space—everything felt frozen.

The same held true for the other summons. Only their eyes could move, shifting to assess the bizarre state they were trapped in.

“Is it fun, living in a confined circle?”

[I won’t kill you… the protagonist of this world.]

In this motionless world, the Demon King alone was free.

She walked slowly toward Ian, stopping before him, and gently stroked his cheek.

That’s when Ian understood. 

The Demon King had triggered a cutscene—one he hadn’t seen since falling into this world. Cutscenes were rare in the game.

These pre-rendered events revealed a character’s past or lore. While they played, neither monsters nor players could move.

‘This crazy glitch…!’

The Demon King was both inside and outside the system. She had corrupted and taken control of the very system that once governed her. She had severed the command that ruled her—and as a result, Ian was no longer under its control either.

But the others were.

And she exploited that fully.

“Crazy b!tch…Let go of master!”

“I can’t move. This feels awful.”

The summons strained to break free, but the system’s grip was absolute. It was unfathomable how the Demon King had managed to taint it.

After caressing Ian’s cheek several more times, the Demon King summoned a cocoon of energy around him.

>[Let’s go—main character.]

And with that, she tore space open, taking Ian into it.

Beyond the skies—into the subspace where she hid.

***

Contrary to what Ian imagined—a grotesque cave filled with writhing tentacles—the Demon King’s chamber was dim, yet surprisingly ornate. Lavish decorations filled the space.

It was like a room designed by a girl suffering from chuunibyou.

Ian glanced around, then faced the Demon King.

“You… what are you?”

[Those who could not cast off the bridle.]

“What kind of cryptic crap is that? Just kill me already if that’s what you’re planning.”

[Ugh, I won’t kill you. You’re the main character.]

“Main character? What the hell are you talking about?”

However, the Demon King did not respond to his words.

Standing on the bed, she hugged her knees and fell into deep thought.

Ian screamed and struggled to escape from the cocoon, but it showed no reaction.

‘Where is this place?’

Ian looked around, trying to make sense of the Demon King’s surroundings. It was a place he had never seen in the game. Was it just dummy data? Or had the Demon King created this room herself?

If it was the latter, then why design it like this? It made no sense. The Demon King was the ruler of demons and humanity’s sworn enemy—a monster.

Despite being a true evil with no trace of humanity, it was like…

‘Like a heroine.’

Ian wanted to dismiss the thought as absurd, but he couldn’t be sure. This was a gacha game filled with pretty girls that had somehow become the foundation for another world.

She was supposed to be the Demon King of absolute evil, whose face only appeared in the game. But with how things were unfolding, Ian couldn’t rule out the possibility that the Demon King was designed as a heroine from the start.

“Hey.”

[…]

“You’re not even going to answer? Idiot.”

As Ian muttered that, he realized something: the Demon King hadn’t completely conquered the system.

If she had known the system inside out, she wouldn’t have just trapped him in a cocoon—she would have blinded him, severed his limbs, and locked him up far more securely.

‘Empress. Are you there?’

[Yes, Summoner. Where the hell are you?]

‘I don’t even know… This might be our chance while she’s distracted.’

Summoners were protected by various system features. For example, after a battle, summons automatically returned to the summoner.

The Demon King had fled, taking only Ian with her. Since no other monsters remained, his summons—left behind after her departure—had returned to him.

‘I’ll count to three. Three.’

[Ok, go!]

The Empress, understanding his intent in her usual awkward way, burst out through the summoning glyph. The rest of his summons followed closely behind.

The Demon King, who hadn’t responded to his earlier calls, finally opened her eyes and looked at the summoned beasts. Her expression was one of surprise.

[How…?]

“You’re not the only one who can exploit the system.”

[…, this is the main character.]

“And the main character has been here for a while now—though I guess I’m not the protagonist of this world, am I?”

With that, Ian directed his will toward his summons. As one, they unleashed their special moves.

It was the same pattern as before—but this time, Ian was certain she couldn’t stop it.

The Demon King didn’t manipulate the system like last time. Instead, she used her magic to block the attack.

[—I command you in the name of the Demon King: change. World.]

The cute girl’s bedroom dissolved, replaced by a tomb-like dungeon—a scene Ian had feared might appear.

Disgusting tentacles sprouted from the walls, and deadly toxins spread, targeting humans and summons alike.

[If you want to fight, then I will fight properly. But if you wish to give up, I’ll let you go.]

“Are you scared?”

Within Empress’s protective barrier, Ian glared at the Demon King, who dared to sound so smug. ‘Let me go if I give up?’

Did she think he was just going to settle for a newlywed life in a different world because he couldn’t return?

Even if it meant dying, Ian had to defeat the Demon King.

“I’m sorry. I have to kill you—you have to stop me. That’s the set ‘rule.’”

[…Rules, rules, developments—I will not follow them. I refuse.]

Demonic wings burst from the Demon King’s back—seductive and majestic, almost like an angel’s.

But no one would mistake her for an angel.

[I will be free.]

In the next moment, hundreds of magic circles blossomed behind her.

***

Meanwhile, four people—including Stella—had gone to seek out someone who might know where Ian had vanished. 

“—There is a place I can guess,” she said.

“Where is it?” Stella asked.

Artia quietly closed her eyes before answering.

“The Grand Canyon. It’s not too far from here.”

“The Grand Canyon… That’s nearby.”

A vast, deep cliff whose bottom was unknown. The reason such dangerous terrain was so close to the capital was strategic—meant to deter invasions.

The canyon acted as a natural moat, eliminating the need to dig one.

“Why there…?” Stella asked.

“Well—I don’t know the details either.”

“Then how did you know Ian was there?”

“Intuition.”

Artia remembered the Blue Dragon who had recently paid her a visit.

A dragon who never moved unless something significant happened—yet had asked her about Ian. From whether he was trustworthy to questions about the nearby Grand Canyon.

You didn’t need to be a genius to figure out there was something between the Blue Dragon and Ian. 

And if they had both disappeared, then the canyon likely held the answers.