Chapter 18 : Fan meet

Destiny was a celestial body of sorts.

Constantly rotating, maintaining itself, attracting and being attracted to surrounding celestial bodies, revolving, and—eventually—colliding.

And sometimes, small celestial bodies within a star system, drawn by the gravity of a star, collided with each other.

“Ah! Evil Demon Monarch!”

“…The Hero? And that unpleasant holy power… the Saint too?”

“Oh my, do you know me?”

It was inevitable that the three would meet before the barrier concealing the mage’s mansion in the Demon Lands.

The mage’s mansion, protected by a powerful barrier, was impossible for even the Demon Monarch to infiltrate with teleportation. The guidance of the Holy Sword couldn’t reach it, and even if one followed an elf with access rights, they would simply be returned to their original location.

“…”

An odd tension hung in the air between them. They watched each other, trying to guess why the others were here.

Were they connected to the mage? Or were they here looking for the mage, like them? Or were they simply here by chance?

And…

“This is where the Great One resides—! Hmm? Who are you?”

Adding to the chaos, the devil worshippers joined the fray.

The devil worshippers were wary for a moment, then, as if having reached a conclusion, they nodded and stepped forward.

“We don’t know who you are, but seeing you standing unharmed in the Demon Lands, it seems you too have been guided by the Great One.”
“The Great One…?”

“Yes. The true master of this world. The omnipotent one who bestows power upon all and leads everyone to prosperity and true strength.”

The first to nod at the devil worshipper’s words was the hero.

“Ah! That’s right! I came here to find the Great One too!”
“As expected, you have received the Great One’s guidance.”

The devil worshipper nodded and extended their right hand.

Of course, the hero was referring to the ‘unknown Archmage,’ and the devil worshippers were referring to a ‘demon,’ but miraculously, a conversation was established, and a strange sense of camaraderie emerged.

In fact, their destinations were the same, so their interests aligned.

The Saint, observing the situation, raised the red gem in her hand and asked,

“Um, do you know how to enter this barrier? There’s some kind of barrier here… whenever I try to enter, I get lost and return to my original spot.”
“Ooh! Do you also possess the Great One’s gem?”

The Saint held the ‘Bloodline Gem’ given by the vampire, and the devil worshippers held a ‘Devil’s Gem,’ but somehow, these too coincided fatefully.

And…

“But, a barrier… Hmm… If the Great One is sealed, it certainly wouldn’t be an ordinary barrier. If we had enough high-grade Mana Stones, we could borrow the Great One’s power to transcend dimensions, but…”
“Hmm? Teleportation shouldn’t be possible inside.”

“The Great One’s power is different from mere teleportation. They exist on the other side of this dimension. With enough Mana Stones, we can borrow the Great One’s power.”
“If that’s the case… I’ll give you the Mana Stones I have. Let’s try it.”

“Ooh! Is this also the guidance of the Great One?!”

The encounter between the devil worshippers, who had recently used up all their Mana Stones for failed demon summoning attempts, and the Demon Monarch, the master of the Mana Stone-producing Demon Realm, was also quite fateful.

And so…

The devil worshippers’ ‘demon summoning ritual’ began.

“Then, let’s begin the summoning ritual immediately. We shall grant you the honor of occupying a pillar of the summoning circle so that you too can meet the Great One.”
“What?! Apostle! Why would you give such an honor to those we’ve just met?!”

“They are those guided by the Great One. They are worthy of being His instruments. Or do you doubt my judgment?”

There was some disagreement among the devil worshippers, but the Apostle leading them firmly took control of the situation.

And so, of the six corners of the hexagram summoning circle, the hero, the Saint, and the Demon Monarch were placed at the three corners forming a triangle.

“Oh, Great One! The one who guides us to true life!”

As the devil worshipper chanted, mana flowed from the Mana Stones and permeated the magic circle.

And then…

The Saint’s holy power, the Demon Monarch’s demonic energy, and the hero’s power to destroy evil flowed out, following the glowing magic circle and tearing apart space. The demon’s power, which contaminated all energy, devoured the three most powerful forces, tearing through space and awakening.

“Oh, ooh! He is coming! The truly Great One is—!”

And so…

As the devil worshippers, with ecstatic expressions, prostrated themselves…

Another crack appeared in space, and…

“…What are these idiots summoning in front of my house?”

Someone wearing pajamas and holding a bag of potato chips in one hand walked out leisurely.

“What’s this? A demon… a Greater Demon, at that?”

The man in pajamas tilted his head, looking at the crack from which the demon was emerging.

And looking at him…

The Demon Monarch, the hero, and the Saint shouted simultaneously,

“Mage-nim!”
“Insolent mage!”
“Calvin-nim!”

“…Huh?”

‘What? Were they guests looking for me?’

Setting up such an ominous summoning circle in front of someone’s house… It was quite a forceful way to ring the doorbell.

Well, summoning a demon was the surest way to tear through a spatial concealment barrier. They could ignore most magic and cross dimensions.

‘Still, summoning something like this recklessly damages the environment.’

I first tried to interfere with the summoning circle and stop the summoning. I didn’t want to turn the Demon Lands into a sea of fire.

But…

‘Huh? Mana interference isn’t working? They didn’t just use Mana Stones… Hmm?’

They had done something to the summoning circle. Holy power, demonic energy, and even divine power were mixed together, causing it to go haywire.

No wonder a Greater Demon was emerging from such a simplified summoning circle.

‘Let’s put it in the inventory for now.’

I separated the summoning circle and the spatial rift and stored them in my inventory.

[Unrecorded item in the encyclopedia.]
[Eternal Rift]

[Do you wish to record it?]

“Oh. Record.”

With the demon summoning issue taken care of, I looked at the guests who had come to find me.

The hero with the holy sword, the horned Demon Monarch, the Saint I’d seen at the academy… The IPs recorded in their souls were all familiar.

‘They really were the Hero and the Demon Monarch.’

There were also men in black hoods, prostrated on the ground, bowing.

Were they members of my fan club…?

“Rene, ‘IamtheDemonMonarch’-nim, ‘AloneisSad’-nim. Right?”

“Yes! That’s right!”
“I am the Demon Monarch.”
“Calvin-nim!”

“And the friends prostrated next to you are…”
“Oh, Great One! We worship you!”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for listening to the broadcast.”

I wasn’t sure how they found me, but it seemed a bit rude to chase away guests who had come all this way…

I should offer them some refreshments.

“…Would you all like to come inside?”

“Sylvie, we have guests, so tell the other elves to stay in their rooms.”
“Yes.”

Sylvie went inside with a brisk, efficient gait.

I offered the guests some simple refreshments. All snacks I bought through online shopping.

“I have a lot of questions, but… how did you find me?”

“The Holy Sword told me!”
“I am the Demon Monarch. There is nothing I cannot find.”
“A vampire named Kinnikos helped me.”

The Demon Monarch and the hero were understandable, but… Kinnikos?

“A vampire? The one living in the Fortress of Shadows?”
“Yes.”

“Wasn’t the fortress destroyed when the Sky Whale crashed?”
“Kinnikos-nim was the sole survivor of the fortress.”

The Saint told me about Kinnikos’s current situation.

Surprisingly, she had become a Vocaloid producer, creating synthesized versions of my music and uploading them.

“Asking me to broadcast because she needs material for synthesis. That skewed logic is so Kinnikos.”
“Is it? She seemed a little… lonely.”

“That’s understandable. She’s always been prone to loneliness. Now that I know her situation, I’ll personally visit the fortress later and repair the veil of darkness with magic. If we send a few people who want eternal youth to become her kin, the vampires will prosper again.”

As long as the progenitor remained, the resurgence of vampires wouldn’t be difficult.

All vampires were ultimately blood relatives created by the progenitor. If I recruited people who wanted to become vampires online, I’d probably get quite a few applicants.

“So, Rene, what about you?”
“Yes?”

“Didn’t you come here because you had something to say?”
“That…”

As the Saint hesitated, unsure where to begin…

The Demon Monarch interjected,

“I came here to repay my debt to you.”
“Debt?”

“Yes. Thanks to your magic, the Demon Realm has become prosperous, and demons no longer have to suffer in a barren land. With Mana Stones, we can interact with humans as much as we want.”

The demons’ Demonic Energy destabilized the surrounding mana, causing it to crystallize into ‘Mana Stones’.

However, this characteristic also acted as a poison to surrounding lifeforms, turning plants and animals into magical beasts or killing them outright.

That’s why the Demon Realm was mostly a wasteland.

“As the Lord of all demons, the ruler of all demons… I thank you. I promise that all demons will be friendly towards you. And if you wish, I…”

The Demon Monarch bowed her head.

Then, the hero raised their hand and interjected,

“I came to ask you to continue the broadcast! I have to travel alone, and it’s too lonely without your broadcast!”
“Hmm? You have the internet magic tool, right? You can listen to various broadcasts.”

“It has to be you, Mage-nim! Only you! I love you, Mage-nim!”
“Ah, yes. I’m glad you enjoy the broadcast.”

Hmm, I was thinking of stopping because it felt like unnecessary noise pollution on a global scale, but…

What should I do?

“Then, Hero, I’ll give you my magic tool contact information—”
“M-Me too.”

“Huh?”
“Give me your contact information too.”

This time, the Saint hurriedly interjected and grabbed my hand.

Next to her, the Demon Monarch subtly raised her hand as well.

“I would also appreciate it if you could provide me with your contact information. And I would like you to continue the broadcasts as well.”

Huh.

The fan club members still lying face down in the living room, too…

Was my broadcast more popular than I thought?

[“Hello, friends. The mage is back.”]

[“Didn’t I quit broadcasting? Well, I received so many requests to resume, so…”]

[“So, I’m thinking of starting internet broadcasting properly. Beyond just making announcements and reading stories, like before, I’m thinking of creating some content.”]

[“If you have any good ideas for content, please leave them on the Mage Broadcast Forum. If your idea is chosen, I’ll send you a gift.”]

[“I just turned it on briefly to make this announcement today. If you don’t want to watch the broadcasts anymore, just say the command ‘System Off,’ and you won’t see them.”]

[“Then everyone, good night.”]

“Then for the first content… should I do a home renovation show?”

It would be nice to broadcast Kinnikos’s fortress reconstruction process in real time.

The renovation mage who comes directly to your home.

Also known as…

The Help Me Holmes Project!