Chapter 366 - [25th Round] Revaluation

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, prophesied companions. I’m Satan. I fight to defeat Demon Lord Parmanon and restore my homeland.”

“I’m Adam.”

“And I’m Eve.”

That was the end of our performance.

I didn’t say any more than what I had to since I could be punished if I blurted out something unnecessary, and Disco kept interference to a minimum for fairness-related reasons.

Such a brief introduction might have been offensive, but Hero Satan greeted us with a joyous smile anyway.

“To get past the 80th floor of the Demon Lord’s Tower, I plan to visit all continents, starting from the central one, and hire strong companions along the way. To be honest, I don’t know how long it will take.”

“That’s okay.”

“We don’t mind.”

After briefly describing the route to us, we headed to the Holy Kingdom for Saintess A.

Since she would only join the party if the Hero presented a Holy Sword to her, Satan turned to Kang Han Soo for help.

“We have the Holy Sword Nucleon.”

“Hear me, Sword of the End, ruined by Chaos and reforged on the Stars of Oblivion! I hereby declare that I remember your sacred name and praise you for your blade that cuts the bonds of meaningless friendship and love! Awaken from your slumber and prove that our legendary alliance has existed since time immemorial! Come forth and serve me once more, Holy Sword Nucleon!”

Getting a Holy Sword was necessary to pass her test, but he quickly resolved that issue since he hired my past self.

That put Saintess A at a loss.

“Um, what is that…”

“A Holy Sword, as you requested. Will you keep your promise?”

“… Certainly, but keep in mind that in this case, I will follow Kang Han Soo, not Satan.”

“I know.”

“…”

Disliking Satan’s careless answer, she frowned slightly, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Her task was to accompany the Hero wielding the Holy Sword.

“Good job.”

“I am not worthy of your praise, senior.”

“Why do you call me senior? I only have 20 years of experience in the world of Fantasy.”

“It’s not about who enrolled first. You deserve seniority over me since you defeated the Demon Lord faster than I did. You also graduated after only twenty years, which is why I can’t help but respect you even more.”

“Wow…”

Succumbing to his compliments, the corner of Kang Han Soo’s lips curved upward.

I felt ashamed of myself!

Satan was effective in every move he made.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

When Saintess A joined the party, Tomato, the commander of the holy knights, immediately followed her.

Two strong companions at once.

Breaking the usual sequence of actions, Hero Satan first recruited Saintess A then easily got Holy Sword A, dramatically reducing the difficulty level of his mission.

“I already predicted this by peeking into Sieg and Aladdin’s mollanphones, but he’s really talented. I didn’t expect the person most unpopular with women to be acting this way.”

“Such is the way of the world.”

“What he said was even more unexpected. He remains celibate for his wife waiting for him in his homeland… The system mistook him as ‘unpopular,’ but the truth is he just refuses everyone.”

“That’s only natural for a hero.”

I could only speculate, but if I had a woman who promised me a happy future before I was kidnapped, I would have kept my chastity as well.

“I have a lot to say about your statement, but now’s not the right time.”

“What’s your assessment at the moment?”

“If we’re talking about Hero Satan alone, then right now, It’s S, the highest grade. If the other students are at least half as good as him, there’s no need to worry about this institution.”

“That’s a surprisingly honest answer.”

“And that’s a very offensive remark. Mollansoft isn’t some kind of corporate hunter who suppresses opponents by force. If we come to the conclusion that the Fantasy Institution is functioning properly, we won’t interfere with it and even invest more into it than we already have.”

“Well, we’ll see when the time comes.”

Hero Satan easily recruited Saintess A, Holy Knight Tomato, and even Aqua.

Brave A and Brave B, Fugitive Senior’s descendants, also joined us.

Our next destination was the Northern Continent.

“I don’t think I’m ready to go on an adventure…”

“Does this mean Shakespeare from the Western Continent is superior to you?”

“I never said that, Hero!”

“But that’s the conclusion anyone would reach. You’re the one who said you can’t join my adventure since you’re not good enough…”

“Alright! I’m coming!”

“Thank you for making the right decision.”

“Ah… geez.”

Sage immediately agreed to join the party the moment Satan wounded his pride.

He passed out due to nosebleeds every time he saw Disco’s bare thighs, but his magic was helpful.

After that…

“Go away, Hero. You’ll get hurt if you come near me.”

“Isn’t there a way to gain control over your power so you can be freed of your captivity here in the snowy mountains, Ice Princess?”

“There is, but it requires… Ah! It can’t be. That staff…”

“Yes, it’s Sage’s staff. I’ll lend it to you until you gain control of your power.”

“Ah!”

The Ice Princess joined Satan’s squad.

He wasn’t done yet.

“Yaoooooooh!”

The culprit of the Ice Princess’s rampage appeared.

A giant with a cat’s face.

In my 1st and 2nd rounds, I wasn’t aware of his true identity.

But now, with the heroes sharing information with each other, even the strategy for killing him had been revealed.

It should be easy…

“Everyone! we must capture the fallen ancient King of Beasts. I repeat! We must subdue, not murder him!”

“Yaoooooooooooh!”

“Please avoid engaging in combat against him, Ice Princess, and focus your mind on locking him up in your soul instead. Do not fear death. Saintess, take care of her. She will die seven times. Don’t panic and resurrect her immediately.”

“Yaoooooh!”

Catching the feline giant proved difficult due to its domineering size.

Ultimately, however, he fell against the vile power of friendship.

The Ice Princess then trapped him and his Power of Chaos in her soul, turning him into nothing more than a source of energy she could use.

In doing so, she became a hundred times stronger.

Staring at Satan, her eyes sparkled.

“How can I thank you for this, Hero?”

“Lend me your power.”

“As you wish. If you want, I’ll even lend you my body…”

“Just your power is enough.”

“Huh? Okay…”

Without succumbing to the temptations of the empowered Ice Princess, Satan led us to our next destination, the place where Holy Sword C was sealed.

“Welcome, Hero. I am the keeper of the Holy Sword Mollanrod. If you can lure me out of this pond, I will give you the Holy Sword. Let me give you a piece of advice: you can never get it with brutal violence.” The freshwater mermaid, who chatted with Holy Sword C all day, said.

“I know.”

“Then impress me with your song—”

“Freeze this pond, Ice Princess.”

“Hoho! A clever move, but, unfortunately for you, this pond is not just an ordinary puddle— Huh? Hmmm?!”

“I knew from the very beginning that it’s unusual, but it means nothing to my companion now that she’s inherited the King of Beasts’s power.”

“That’s absurd!”

The freshwater mermaid gave up and handed over Holy Sword C to Satan before it completely froze over.

The spirit of a hero from the past contained within it provided its new owner with guidance.

I thought of it as useless, but that apparently wasn’t the case for others.

“It’s good to see you again, Celebras. Yes, I know you. You’re the friend of the noble spirit. Share your wisdom with me. Haha! Thank you very much! Repeated explanations are not needed, however. I’m counting on your support from here on out.”

Holding Holy Sword C in his hands, Satan constantly spoke as if talking to an invisible ghost.

For others, he looked like a psychopath, but he didn’t care.

Our next target was the Sword Princess, located in Duke Q’s estate.

At least that was what I thought. However, reality turned out differently.

Kang Han Soo entered the tournament at Satan’s request and easily won, thus becoming engaged to the Sword Princess. However, they didn’t go on their honeymoon.

“Good morning. I am Chris Kureil. I’ll be joining your party in Kang Han Soo’s stead now that he’s left you. I look forward to cooperating with you.”

He sent his son, who interfered with his family life.

This was also Satan’s work.

Kang Han Soo and the Sword Princess would be of great help on his adventure, but they didn’t climb the Demon Lord’s Tower with the party and instead would leave just before.

Not wanting to lose his mother, Haris challenged Kan Han Soo but was defeated. He then fell for Satan’s sweet “If you follow me, you will become stronger” speech.

In principle, this was true.

“That’s an interesting idea he came up with…”

“This is wonderful. I don’t know what’ll come next, but he’s shown nothing but outstanding talent so far.”

Disco, who kept her mouth shut during Sieg and Aladdin’s adventures, couldn’t seem to stop praising Satan.

In total, three Holy Swords had been collected, but that number was again reduced to two due to the absence of Kang Han Soo, the wielder of Holy Sword Nucleon.

After that, Satan stopped by the Mollan’s Teachings headquarters and recruited Saintess C, using Holy Sword C to pass her test.

A problem arose immediately, however.

“Hero, please only choose one of us.”

“I agree. We can’t both accompany you.”

Saintesses A and C forced the Hero to make a choice.

It looked like they were pestering him, asking, “Who do you like better between us?”

To which Satan replied, “I have to think about it.”

The next day too.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

And even after a few days.

“It’s hard to choose.”

Over and over again…

Delaying the decision, he dragged the two with him until they got accustomed to working together, at which point he said, “I have decided. I am the owner of Mollanrod. And Celebras, the Hero who lives in Mollanrod, is the owner of Automania. With two Holy-Sword-equipped heroes in our party, there should be no problem having two Saintesses accompany us. Do you have any objections?”

“… No.”

“I see…”

They expressed their dissatisfaction, but after spending so much time together, they nevertheless agreed.

The difference between having just one and two of their kind was enormous.

With just one of them, if she died, a series of casualties would follow. She couldn’t be resurrected either.

With two Saintesses, even if one of them were to die in battle or an accident, the other could resurrect her with ease and maintain the party during her temporary absence.

… I was speechless. It was that amazing.

This was well documented in his personal file.

? Type: Personal file

? Name: Satan

? Alignment: True Neutral

? Main quality: Sanity

? Experience: 2019 years

? Record: 43

? Overall Rating: A pessimist and a realist, he harbors no hopes or dreams. Due to his aloofness, he always finds himself arguing against his righteous companions, causing his party to disintegrate, ultimately leading to his failure to defeat the Demon Lord. However, due to a certain student and the revision of the educational policy, their attitude towards him has changed.

Having survived prejudice and persecution from the faculty members, Hero Satan finally saw the light at the end of the dark tunnel.

Sage, Ice Princess, Saint C, Haris, God of War, Brave C, Brave D…

He recruited many strong companions from the Northern Continent, and he did so without discrimination. As a result, the size of his party doubled.

Satan didn’t get along with companions?

That wasn’t even funny.

“I have no words. I’m surprised that such an excellent student hasn’t yet graduated from school… I wish there’s more like him.”

“Hmm…”

If Disco looked around, there might be one or two more.

Without slowing down, Satan traveled to the rest of the continents, hiring new companions.

And finally…

“People! The time has come to take over Elmollando, an aerial fortress inhabited by hypocritical angels!”

“Satan! Satan! Satan!”

“Yeah!”

“Long live Satan!”

Hero Satan and his party invaded Second Angel Bananael’s territory, not the Demon Lord’s Tower.

Bang!

Bam!

A fierce battle ensued.

Bananael was strong, but he also had a limit.

Parmael’s third offspring, Potatoel, was in the Demon Lord’s Tower, and I couldn’t even remember where her second offspring, Umamiel, was.

Regardless, he defeated Bananael using the power of friendship, thus greatly improving his companions’ equipment.

Standing in the center of Elmollando, Hero Satan raised his Holy Sword C into the air and finally exclaimed, “To the Demon Lord’s Tower!”

To end his 19-year-long journey…

It was time to welcome him to my abode!