Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 372

Chapter 372

Riana’s change was inevitable. Although she had whiled away her time at the Temple so far, she was a very powerful supernatural being who grew stronger on her own.

She possessed strength, but never thought of using it. Now, though, Riana was grateful for the power she had accumulated during her idle time and was genuinely trying to hone it.

She wasn’t just training her supernatural abilities; she was also putting effort into physical training, which she had always disliked, and even Cliffman was helping her with that.

The fact that I was the target of Riana’s revenge was beyond my control.

Who was the appropriate target for Riana’s revenge? Owen de Getmora, who had betrayed the Revolutionary Forces at a critical moment? Shanapell and Sabioleen Tana, whom I presumed had carried out the operation? Vertus, who had planned all of it? Or the emperor, who had approved the plan? Or perhaps it came back to me, the catalyst for all these events?

I didn’t know in which direction Riana was supposed to point her sword of revenge. It seemed unfair for me to be the target, but when I thought about it carefully, it wasn’t entirely unjust, which made me feel resigned.

Riana pursued strength. She desired it more strongly than any of us.

The remaining days of the winter break would pass by, and I truly needed to prepare. I had to prepare to become everyone’s enemy.

That very moment was approaching with each passing second.

***

[Achievement Points: 17,730 points]

Seventeen thousand points I hadn’t had any particular use for them so far, and had kept them as a reserve in case something significant happened.

The most recent time I’d tapped into this reserve was during the festival, when I’d used Achievement Points to strengthen my Incantation and create a significant opening for myself in my fight against Leverier Lanche. I had used a thousand points to enhance the Incantation, binding his movements, and then pierced his heart with the corrupted Tiamata.

That event granted me true mastery over Tiamata, and I was now able to make it change form freely between a holy sword or a demonic sword according to my will.

Achievement Points had always been a powerful weapon in my arsenal, and could be used to create significant advantages.

There were quite a few things I could do with the remaining Achievement Points. I could spend eight thousand points to awaken a new talent.

So far, my talents were Self-Deception, Incantation, and Mana Domination.

[Swordsmanship - 8,000 points]

To become a Master, I needed a talent related to combat, but Self-Deception already functioned as a combat-related talent. However, acquiring a talent in swordsmanship wouldn’t be a bad thing, and obtaining swordsmanship would speed up my progress toward reaching the Master class.

If I used eight thousand points, I would have nine thousand points left. To awaken a fifth talent, I would need sixteen thousand points. If I wanted to awaken a fifth talent, I would need seven thousand more Achievement Points.

However, I was torn between two talents.

[Swordsmanship - 8,000 points]

[Supernatural Resistance - 8,000 points]

‘Resistance to supernatural powers... This might be necessary.’

With Divine Spirit, I was almost immune to mental-type magic, and anti-magic resistance could be trained.

However, neither of these protected me from supernatural attacks. If my identity was discovered, many of those around me would become my enemies. That would include Riana de Granz, who had awakened an immensely powerful form of her ability.

Of course, Mana Reinforcement afforded some protection against Riana’s abilities. However, with Supernatural Resistance, I would be more fully protected against Riana and others who wielded supernatural powers.

Besides, the real problem wasn’t Riana.

Scarlett... Scarlett’s immunity ability completely neutralized me. Her power nullified all supernatural powers in a radius around her, preventing me from using Self-Deception or Incantation.

People had already seen Scarlett’s ability render me powerless in the tournament. If my identity as the Demon King was revealed and a fight broke out, the truly dangerous enemy wouldn’t be Ellen, but Scarlett.

If Scarlett’s Immunity was classified as a supernatural power, could Supernatural Resistance counter it? Even if it wasn’t, I could make it possible.

[Add Setting]

I had never used this function before, but with it, I could add a setting that made it possible to resist Scarlett’s Immunity ability using Supernatural Resistance.

However, this had the downside of requiring a significant amount of Achievement Points just to counter Scarlett. It wasn’t as if I absolutely had to fight Scarlett, so it seemed like a waste of points. Achievement Points were meant to be saved for important things, not for things that provided such little value.

In that case, was it better to secure a talent in weapon skills to reach the Master class more quickly? Or would it be better to acquire Supernatural Resistance to offer more stability?

I did not take too long to deliberate.

[You have used 8,000 Achievement Points.]

[Talent - ‘Swordsmanship’ acquired.]

There was no urgent need yet, so I pursued versatility instead.

My talents now included Swordsmanship, Mana Domination, Self-Deception, and Incantation. The optimal conditions for becoming a Master were now in place.

‘This guy... Why can’t he escape this kind of insecurity?’

On general strength alone, Cliffman was classified among the monsters.

However, he was seeking advice from Ellen and myself.

Mere words could not describe Ellen, and I had already surpassed the realm of normality and even the realm of monsters.

In other words, among the monsters of the Royal Class, if there was something like a martial arts “Heaven Beyond Heaven,” Ellen and I were the two who had reached it, at least in terms of our rate of growth, rather than actual skill.

Moreover, the person he’d vowed to fight alongside was already an extraordinary supernatural being, and her abilities had undergone a sudden and explosive growth.

Cliffman, who was not quite in the realm of “Heaven Beyond Heaven” but had at least reached “Heaven,” found himself overshadowed by his peers, which made his own capabilities seem insignificant.

The guy who believed his timid days were over was still mumbling, still timid.

“Shouldn’t I be able to do Mana Reinforcement too...?”

‘Hey, that’s not something you’re supposed to awaken in the first year. Even Ellen here wasn’t supposed to do it in her first year. She just happened to awaken it early because she’d been thrown into a very specific situation. She actually coughed up blood when it happened, and I lost consciousness for a few days as well, you know?’

Cliffman thought he was a sparrow when he was actually a stork, because the achievements of those around him dwarfed his own abilities.

Given all of this, he probably believed that he would be a hindrance to Riana when it really came time for a fight, and it would be better for him to stay out of the way. And indeed, if a battle were to happen right that moment, there was a high chance that would be the case.

Ellen, as always, looked at Cliffman without any expression. “Don’t be too hasty. There’s no need to be in such a rush.”

Her calmness was reassuring, and was one of Ellen’s strengths.

“You never know when something might happen. The Demon King might attack the Temple as a way to threaten the future of the empire,” Cliffman said.

‘Uh... That could happen if the Demon King truly desired human extinction and desired a second Great War, but I’m not like that! I’m here with you guys!

‘This must be what it feels like to be frustrated to death, right?’

“... That’s true.”

Unfortunately, it was a credible statement.

The recent incident, which had been disguised as a demon attack, had led to various misunderstandings about the demon forces.

People had come to believe that the Demon King not only commanded the few powerful demons that had been active so far, but orcs, ogres and others as well.

The idea that the Demon King had already raised a considerable army was now within the general consciousness of the people.

Questions had begun to arise about why the demons had attacked that particular place, but, as Vertus had intended, people were engulfed by a general fear of demons and were not trying to uncover the true reason behind that attack.

Most believed that the demons had been attempting to assault the capital of the small nation of Levaina, Raziern, and the attack on the Merchants’ Guild branch located on the outskirts of that city had been an unfortunate result of that.

The fear that the Demon King’s reach could extend anywhere at any time had taken root in everyone’s hearts, and Cliffman was no exception.

In addition to that, it seemed logical that the Temple, where the top talents deemed to be the future of the empire resided, would be considered the top priority for any attack. If the Demon King was truly dreaming of a grand plan to shatter the empire’s future, an attack on the Temple, and on the Royal Class in particular, was surely a serious consideration.

This potential danger, regardless of my actual intentions, was fuel for Cliffman’s anxiety that he was still too weak. More precisely, he felt he was too weak compared to Riana.

“So, I thought I’d focus on Mana Reinforcement training for now, and I was hoping you could help.”

“You’ve already been doing that.”

“Yeah... It just hasn’t been effective.”

“Still...”

Cliffman seemed to think that if he couldn’t succeed in achieving Mana Reinforcement, he couldn’t even start. However, Ellen and I had been instructing Cliffman in Mana Reinforcement whenever we could. I had managed to grasp it somehow, but Cliffman was still at square one.

Since he hadn’t undergone the structured training for it, just focusing on it wouldn’t miraculously lead to awakening Mana Reinforcement. Such a thing just wouldn’t happen.

“I understand what you’re thinking, but among the first year students, only she and I can activate Mana Reinforcement. And, not to brag, but we’re special cases. There are still seniors in their fifth and sixth years who haven’t grasped it yet. If you rush, your mana circuits might get damaged, leading to severe aftereffects—”

“There’s one more now,” Cliffman said, interrupting me mid-sentence.

“What do you mean by one more?”

“Someone else who can do Mana Reinforcement.”

Cliffman pointed behind him with his thumb, in the direction of the Class B dormitory.

“Ludwig,” he said.

‘What? This punk protagonist! Where did he manage to get a free ride without me knowing?’