319 If goodwill can save the world, then effort is unnecessary.

After silencing the Vampire Child, resume listening to the Black's account.

There are, however, unnecessary remarks inserted at every turn—phrases like "It's my fault," "I made the mistake"—which extend the listening time.

Still, to summarize in three lines:

The Black called for a ceasefire between the Hero and the Demon King.

The "Po" character instilled in both Hero and Demon King the belief that the Administrators were evil.

Hero and Demon King: "Very well, let us destroy the Administrators."

Why does it lead to this?

More precisely, the sequence unfolds as follows.

First, the degradation of souls among the world's inhabitants intensified, particularly among the Demon Clan, resulting in a sharp decline in birth rates.

Thus, the Demon Clan could no longer afford to engage in warfare.

Black foresaw the Demon Clan’s extinction if conditions remained unchanged and called for a truce between the Demon King and the Hero.

This much was sound.

Black’s judgment had not erred.

I do not know the circumstances of that time, but witnessing Arguna and Balt’s desperate efforts to rebuild the Demon Clan makes it easy to imagine the severity of the crisis.

The fact that Black—normally passive, never initiating action—had taken the step to act alone indicates the depth of the emergency.

Perhaps, if Black had remained inactive and the war had continued unchecked, the Demon Clan might have been extinguished by the time our reincarnated selves were born.

That may be an exaggeration, but the situation was undoubtedly worsening.

However, here Black’s miscalculation emerged.

It was this: the previous Hero and the prior Demon King had already come into contact with Po’s mark.

Moreover, he had been preaching to the master as well—instilling the doctrine of the Administrator’s malice.

That the Administrator pitted residents of this world against one another, using Heroes and Demon Kings, to amass power, then seized it upon their deaths.

That is accurate in fact—but hearing only this, the Administrator appears villainous.

When in truth, he is striving to regenerate the world.

What the previous Hero and the former Demon King thought, after hearing both Black’s and Po’s accounts, is known only to them.

They are both deceased now. The truth cannot be known.

Judging solely by the outcome, they appear foolish—challenging the Administrator recklessly and squandering MA energy needlessly.

Why did such a massive depletion of MA energy occur?

No matter how boldly one challenges the Administrator, MA energy should not deplete merely from combat.

Only between a Hero and a Demon Lord.

Heroes and Demon Lords possess hidden variables.

A consequence of that depraved, malevolent deity forcing excessive data into the system.

Heroes grow stronger against Demon Lords.

This is because Demon Lords, typically drawn from long-lived demonic lineages, are generally superior to human Heroes—thus, a safety mechanism was implemented as a countermeasure against inevitable defeat.

When a Hero and Demon Lord of unequal strength fight, the Hero may consume MA energy to achieve temporary power enhancement.

In fact, this enhancement mechanism applies beyond Hero vs. Demon Lord scenarios.

It also applies when facing deities.

Currently, only one genuine deity exists in this world—the Black God.

Sariel is system-bound and immobilized.

In other words, when facing external enemies, only the Black God remains capable of movement.

Deities contest over territories, fighting to claim stars.

This star has been abandoned by dragons, is on the brink of destruction, and holds no value—thus, it is rarely targeted.

Yet, it cannot be said with absolute certainty that this will never happen.

It cannot be guaranteed that the dragons who abandoned this realm will never return, nor can it be ruled out that a stray deity might appear unexpectedly.

The means to oppose such a deity are the Hero and the Demon Lord.

When confronting a deity, both Hero and Demon Lord can consume MA energy to amplify their power.

Of course, they cannot defeat a deity easily, but even temporarily, enabling an individual to match a deity requires an immense concentration of MA energy—something that cannot be ignored.

Moreover, facing a deity demands MA energy consumption far exceeding that of a Hero versus Demon Lord confrontation.

Still, this mechanism exists.

And let us not conceal it—the administrator is included within the scope of this function’s application.

Hah?

That’s how it is, isn’t it.

If this were an online game, it would be as if the player had a special effectiveness bonus against the GM.

Moreover, using it might very well result in killing the salamander.

A mechanic so absurd it could undermine the very foundation of the game.

More like a bug than a feature, really.

But that's not a bug—it's an intentional feature.

But the one who made that was that demon god, after all.

Perhaps D left the option of the world's inhabitants challenging the administrators as well.

If asked whether there was meaning in it, he would only say, “Seems more interesting that way.”

A mere human challenges the divine.

Whether the world changes or not is uncertain, but wouldn't the event alone have been enjoyable even without meaning from a D's perspective?

Yes.

In essence, the previous-generation Hero and the previous-generation Demon King succeeded in momentarily gaining immense power by challenging the god known as Administrator, consuming MA energy in the process.

The cost was, of course, the massive consumption of MA energy and the lives of those involved.

They likely believed they were acting for the best.

Yet the outcome was nothing more than the wasteful expenditure of MA energy, placing the world in peril.

To add insult to injury, they even killed us, the reincarnated ones from another world.

A true fool.

Now, have you noticed?

Throughout this sequence, the Black has no real responsibility.

"The situation sounds like Potimas is mostly to blame."

"No. It was my responsibility to properly explain things to the Hero and the Demon King."

Against the Demon King's reasonable argument, the Black stubbornly insists it was entirely their fault.

Even during the explanation, it insisted excessively that the fault was entirely its own.

In truth, one could not claim the Black bore no responsibility at all.

Whether the Black explained the situation to the previous Hero and the previous Demon King in full detail remains unknown. But if it had secured their trust firmly at that point, this would not have occurred.

The trust was weaker than a "po" character.

Sad.

Still, the "po" character who deceived the previous Hero and the previous Demon King was undeniably the worst offender.

Judging by the "po" character's diary, those two acted independently, without relying on the "po" character, and self-destructed recklessly.

From the "po" character's perspective, defeating the Black might have been a fortunate coincidence.

Given how close the inference came to the truth, the "po" character was undeniably competent.

Which is precisely why the character’s nature was so poor.

"Gyurie, what are you hiding?"

I am hiding nothing. I was inadequate. That is all.

The interrogating Demon King and the black figure pretending innocence.

Yet by this point, it is obvious the black figure is concealing something.

The tragedy that unfolded stemmed from my teaching them partial knowledge of the system. I bear responsibility.

Hmm.

The black figure is not lying.

It is simply omitting the crucial detail.

That the previous Hero and the previous Demon King were fools—true.

That the figure known as "Po" incited them—true.

That it was the black figure who gave them partial knowledge of the system—true.

Everything acted in the worst possible way, leading to this outcome.

In terms of puppeteering, all involved could be considered shadow masters.

But one is missing.

"Godess Salier."

The black figure reacts dramatically to my whisper.

Its gaze says, "Do not speak of it!" louder than words.

Well, I'll just say it!

"The one who diverted the attack meant for black to D. That is Goddess Salier."

Each of them reacts in their own way to my words.

Black maintained a neutral expression.

The Demon King showed a lifeless expression.

Oni-kun nodded, as if understanding.

The Vampire Child looked utterly clueless.

It makes sense, when you think about it.

D, who didn't even know of the existence of Po, could not possibly have been targeted by the previous Hero or the former Demon King.

Technically, it's not impossible to reach D—the creator and caster—if one goes through the system.

But that requires deep familiarity with the system.

Impossible for anyone except the system's administrator—the Goddess Salier.