Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~
chapter-101

The History of The Demon King

A few days have passed since the Baron left for Royal Capital.

The Baron asked me to stay by Cecile’s side as her escort until he returned and until the matter of Viscount Carnell was settled. I said of course, and I basically stayed in Cecile’s room.

The Deputy Knight Commander escorted Baron to the Royal Capital. According to the Knight Commander, someone at the level of Dagraha can’t defeat the Deputy Commander.

And, the mansion was being guarded by the Knight Commander and several Knights.

I observed the sky above with [Eagle Eye] during the day via Eagle and [Night Vision] during the night via Hollow.

I was keeping an eye on him, but I expect Viscount Carnell to do anything. The Viscount has no cards in his hand right now. And the Baron is the one who can negotiate with the Royal Family and other Nobles with the mining rights in hand.

Since I was with Cecile, we began to take lessons together. I was provided with tea and sweets too. I regret that Cecile’s stubbornness has decreased since we came back to the mansion.

The Knight Commander told us that the class would be held in the Meeting Room today, so Cecile and I came to the room on the third floor.

“So this is where we’re going to learn our lesson today.”

“You wanted to know about the Granvelle family duty, right?”

“What?”

“The Teacher will be here shortly, but as you know, don’t tell anyone.”

After saying that, the Knight Commander left the room.

After waiting for a while, the Magic Teacher came in, accompanied by the Knight Commander. The Knight Commander was carrying a large bag in his hand. It was probably the Teacher’s luggage.

(The Magic Teacher is here.)

“It’s okay, right?”

As soon as he entered the room, the Magic Teacher checked with the Knight Commander about something.

“Yes. I have permission from the head of the family.”

The Knight Commander replied rather politely to the Magic teacher. After saying that, the Knight Commander left the room again.

“Good grief.”

“Good day, sir.”

It seems that I have made things difficult for him so I bowed my head and thanked him.

“Hmm, first of all, I want you to not tell anyone about what I am about to tell you guys today. This is something that is not taught even in the Academy.”

“I understand.

“Well, there are some rather soft-spoken people talking about it but if it gets too bad, the Royal Family will make a move, so don’t say anything.”

I heard that if you blow the whistle too much, you will be subject to a crackdown, this case seems to be the same.

“Yes.”

“So, what was it that was bothering you so much that you wanted to talk to me?”

(Hmm, like in Magic, it’s a question-based class today too.)

“It’s about what kind of duties the Granvelle family have.”

I heard from the head manservant, Rickel, that the Kingdom was not at war before. However, I learned from the conversation between Dagraha and the bandits that there is some sort of battlefield

“Well, there’s no mistaking what that lazy Rickel said. Rickel has learned about the history of the Kingdom.”

(He implicitly dismissed the Baron Family’s head manservant.)

“Kingdom’s History?”

“Yes, and to know the truth about the world, you must know the history of the Demon King.”

Then he began to unfold a large piece of folded parchment.

“Is this a map of the world?”

I had only ever seen a map of Granvelle territory. However, I could vaguely tell that this was a world map. There were several chunks of what appeared to be continents on the large map.

“Mmm, yes. Allen, you are as clever as ever. The largest continent in this map is called the Central Continent, where we live.”

“Oh!”

(I’ve been living on a pretty big continent. This big country should be the Empire, so the small country south of the Empire is the Kingdom. It is located in the southern part of the Central Continent?)

“The Empire to the north of our Latash Kingdom is the Giamut Empire.”

He pointed at the Latash Kingdom and the Giamut Empire on the map and we continued our conversation.

(I wonder how much Cecile knows about this. She seems to have heard about this from the Baron.)

While I was carrying on the conversation with the Magic teacher, Cecile was looking at the map in silence. On the day when the Royal Messenger told us that Mihai was dead, she must have heard about the situation from the Baron, but I’m not sure how much she knows. Cecile’s gaze on the map is probably the location of the battlefield.

“So you’re saying there’s a Demon King in this world?”

“…That’s right. In the north of the Central Continent, the northernmost part of the world map, a Demon King was born.”

The Magic Teacher was at a loss for words for a moment because I had accepted the presence of the Demon King as a natural thing. However, he continued the lesson while pointing to the map.

The Magic Teacher talked about the birth of the Demon King. He was born 112 years ago. It is said that the Demon King was born on the northernmost continent, the Forgotten Continent.

“How do you know that?”

“Well, the Demon King himself said so.”

The one who called himself the Demon King has apparently sent out messages about himself to all the Emperors and Kings that read “I am the Demon King of the End, the one who will bring everything to an end.”

“What happened then?”

“All the countries ignored it. There was no reason to deal with them.”

The Demon King did not do anything after that. Fifty years have passed since then in peace.

Sixty-two years ago, when the world was about to forget him, the same message was repeated with an additional “Follow me. If you don’t follow me this time, there will be no next time.”

“Did they ignore that too?”

“Yes, they ignored it. And what happened later that year is known as the Great Calamity.”

“The Great Calamity?”

“By the power of the Demon King, the strength of all Magical beasts in the world has increased by one rank.”

In addition, some people don’t believe the Demon King to be the cause of the Great Calamity. It’s just that many people believe that it was the work of the Demon King.

It was the beginning of the terror caused by the Demon King. All the magical beasts rank went up by one regardless: E-rank magical beasts became D-rank, D-rank became C-rank, C-rank became B-rank, B-rank became A-rank and A-became S-rank. And it is said that S-rank magical beast approached Demi-God rank.

It is said that many people who were living a normal life fell victim to the vicious magical beasts and that millions of people died that year all over the world as victims of magical beasts.

(Huh? Really?)

I had one big question after I started hunting Albaherons. I wondered if the magical beasts were stronger than their rank.

“What happened to the ranks of the magical beasts then? Since the Demon King made them stronger, shouldn’t we also raise all their ranks by one?”

“That’s right. The Adventurer’s Guild keeps track of the ranks of magical beasts, but the ranks haven’t changed since before the Demon King appeared.”

(Oh, so there was a reason that Goblin King and the Madegarsh couldn’t be defeated by Knights or adventurers.)

Madegarsh, a B-rank magical beast, but has the power equivalent to an A-rank.

And the White Dragon must have become inviolable with power equivalent to S-rank from A-rank.

And it didn’t end there.

The Great Calamity was only the beginning of despair.

Also, in that year, an army under the Demon King numbering in the millions crossed the sea and attacked the Central Continent.

The Kingdom of Cortes, the Kingdom of Gamelos, and the Principality of Bashri, all of which were located on the Central Continent, were attacked and destroyed within a year.

“Three countries destroyed in one year?”

“Yes, that’s right. And just like that, the army led by the Demon King is now called the Demon King’s Army. The fury of the Demon King’s army still continues.”

The Demon King’s army destroyed the Kingdom of Rasturi three years later, 59 years ago. This sent a tremor through the world.

“Why only then, not before?”

“The Kingdom of Rasturi was a medium-sized country in the north. A country far more powerful than our own Latash Kingdom was destroyed in just three years.”

The first three countries that perished were small states in the northernmost part of the Central Continent. The Kingdom of Rasturi, however, bordered the Giamut Empire and was a medium-sized country that could go toe to toe with the Empire. It was not a country that could be easily destroyed.

That wasn’t the only reason for the tremors.

When the Royal Capital was surrounded by the Demon King’s army, the King of Rasturi surrendered. He begged the Demon King to spare his citizens in exchange for his life.

However, the Demon King’s army refused to do so.

“We’ve already given you two chances to surrender but you refused. You can hold your weapons and fight to the end.” With this, the fight continued.

It turned out to be too one-sided of a battle. According to those who managed to escape from the hidden passages, it was an unspeakable massacre. The Demon King’s army continued its march, and within three years the Rusturi Kingdom was devoid of people. It is said that not even half of the people escaped to the Giamut Empire.

“You say that the Demon King cannot be followed.”

“Yes. I thought that if a Demon King called himself a King, he would rule, but that was not the case.”

At first, there was a new King who called himself the Demon King. It was thought that if he were a King, he was supposed to enslave other countries when he invaded them. All the countries thought that he wanted to conquer and rule.

I had thought that a new King had been born and that he had flourished, but that was not the case. The reality was very different.

Allen had asked what the Granvelle Family’s duty was. And the answer to that question was far beyond his imagination. The answer was the story about the Demon King trying to destroy the world with his huge army.

Translator’s Corner

Thanks for reading.