My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 332 The Real Role of the Prototype
The subsequent conversation went very smoothly.

The Demon King accepted all of Roland's demands, just to get Roland to grant her request.

After that, the Demon King went to make preparations on his own.

Next, she will track down the location of the prototypes and find a way to enter the small spaces created by them.

Before she locked onto her target, Roland had time to wait and see what happened next.

After parting ways with the Demon King, Roland did not go to see anyone.

Instead, he went alone to a forest outside Isfar.

It was quiet enough here, and there was no need to worry about being interrupted by Kalia's sudden intrusion.

After all, if he knew I was back, he would definitely come back immediately.

Under other circumstances, Roland would definitely postpone his thoughts and wait until he had dealt with Kalia and the others before considering them.

But today is different.

The information just revealed by the Demon King completely changed Roland's view on the prototype.

And the true truth behind the Demon King's death.

One truth that even the Demon King himself selectively forgot.

If the prototype hadn't contained some useful information, the Demon King might never have realized the true danger of the prototype.

Yes, it is harmful.

Just like the main reason why the Demon King was initially willing to cooperate with Roland was because the prototype had gotten involved with the Chaos Brotherhood, which made her feel that the prototype had deviated from her original intention in creating them.

So, in a fit of anger, he joined forces with Roland, wanting to use human hands to destroy these evil creations in time.

But that's not the case.

At that time, the Demon King's memories were incomplete, and he had only recently regained his sanity under the influence of Roland's World Tree power.

But it is different now.

After combining one-third of the soul, the Demon King remembered the true purpose of the prototype.

These thirteen terrifying mechs are both containers for the Demon King to store his remnants of souls and eternal prisons he created for himself.

That's how it should have been...

The Demon King did not mention any further information, only saying that she herself had been corrupted by the power of the four evil gods before her death.

The pollution is so severe that it cannot be removed.

Even though she was able to maintain her own will at that time, her personality underwent significant changes as a result.

By the time she realized something was wrong with her, it was too late.

So she built a prototype.

With the Soul Stone stolen by Russell, the prototype she created could not keep the soul conscious and would even dissipate over time.

But that was exactly what the Demon King was thinking at the time.

In the final battle with the hero, she deliberately revealed a weakness because she was determined to die, allowing the hero to defeat her.

After her death, her corrupted soul was divided into thirteen parts, each entering a prototype machine.

According to the Demon King's original plan.

Her corrupted soul will not enter the underworld and pollute the pure land of the dead.

Instead, they would be trapped inside the prototype, unable to travel to the underworld, and would perish over the long years.

The prototype was promptly contained by humans, and in her view, this method was foolproof.

After all, humans can't very well break the seal on the evil demon king's creation, can they?
His own remaining followers would not have the strength or opportunity to enter the seal near the capital and break it.

But the Demon King underestimated the destructive power of the fools among humanity...

The corrupted soul, not yet completely worn away, was thus freed from its cage.

Fortunately, the seal on the capital city was designed with a self-destruction technique for the worst-case scenario.

Twelve of the thirteen prototypes were swallowed into the chaotic spatial currents, banishing them forever to the vast interdimensional space.

Fortunately, after regaining consciousness, the Demon King harbored deep malice towards it and, through the high authority of his soul, promptly disabled the positioning function of the Demon King's Hand prototype.

This ensures that six of them will never be able to return to the real world.

Although her soul will never be able to return to its original state, and nearly half of her memories will be lost.

But in her opinion, it was all worth it.

These costs are negligible.

To stop the evil god... anyone, any being, can be the price.

including herself.

Unfortunately, she didn't think of the two most crucial questions at the time.

First, why would the Prototype choose to cooperate with the Chaos Brotherhood? What drove them to unite?

It's important to understand that while the prototype possessed self-awareness, it was merely a fragment of its own soul.

But three hundred years have passed, and his soul, in its struggle against the corruption of evil gods, has long since fallen into folly and confusion.

They retain the ability to think and basic intelligence, and therefore, they can still act according to the initially preset program.

But the functions of speech and communication are absolutely absent.

So how did the two sides "arrange" the cooperation? During the Blackthorn Territory campaign, the two sides actually cooperated.

This will not be a one-way journey.

The two sides must have communicated through some method.

The only thing the Demon King and Roland could think of was the corruption of the evil god within the prototype.

To make the worst-case scenario assumption, the souls within those prototypes have been completely corrupted by the power of the evil god.

Second, the Demon King transformed the prototype into a prison that confined souls, but he also set up a built-in preset program for it so that the prototype would have the ability to act according to the plan.

So, what was her pre-set procedure, and what was her purpose?
Why did they initially cooperate with the Chaos Brotherhood, but later cease all contact with them?
Was the bug caused by the inability to assemble thirteen prototype units?
Based on the Demon King's recently recovered memories, she deduced that her final plan was the same as the legends and stories of humans.

By combining thirteen prototype units, the "Demon King" will return.

A monster whose reason has been consumed by the power of an evil god will control a terrifying black armor and bring calamity to the world.

The reason for adopting this plan is that the Demon King wanted to materialize the remnants of the evil god's corruption, making it a clear and tangible target.

Rather than an invisible and intangible form of subtle, pervasive pollution that directly affects the mind and soul, even imperceptible to a peerless powerhouse like the Demon King.

Whether or not the combined demon king can be defeated is not a question the demon king needs to consider.

She could only trust the wisdom of future generations.

Enemies with visible health bars are easier to deal with than those that are invisible.

As for how she was corrupted, the Demon King can't remember yet, only vaguely recalling that it was related to Enwa, the location of the Demon King's court.

She also proposed a trip to Enwa.

However, the plan to head straight for the demon's stronghold was still too wild.

Roland felt that dealing with the prototype was easier.

In short, the Demon King's request can be summarized as follows: the prototype must be dealt with as soon as possible, and considering the all-pervasive nature of the evil god's power, it can only be solved by Roland, a special being.

Otherwise, it's easy to end up like the Demon King.

While fighting against the evil god, they were corrupted by the evil god's power.

This was not the power of the half-demon god we had seen at sea.

Although the barriers of this world show signs of damage, they are still functioning.

In general, extraterrestrial evil gods can only achieve the descent of half their bodies by removing the truly dangerous parts of their power and disguising it as the power of a native evil god.

But the corruption suffered by the Demon King was different; it came directly from the power of the evil god himself.

And among the five prototypes still roaming outside, there exists this all-pervasive ultimate threat.

What if that prototype is taken care of by a kind-hearted human expert while it's running around outside, causing its power to leak out...?

Roland dared not imagine the consequences.

Even now, when I recall my previous experiences fighting against the prototype, I still feel a lingering fear.

Thankfully, I was present on the previous few occasions.

According to the Demon King's description of its special nature, the power capable of suppressing and purifying the evil god's corruption should be the power within Roland's body, originating from the World Tree Runestone and the World Tree's blessing.

A chilly morning wind swept through the forest, helping Roland calm down.

Although there was some lingering fear, strictly speaking, the impact was brought under control.

only……

Roland then recalled a seemingly insignificant anecdote he had heard about after returning to Isfar.

The prototype attacked a caravan, stealing a large quantity of precious metals and some unrefined ore.

This happened shortly after Roland set off for Platia to find Russell.

This was indeed a somewhat strange piece of information, but not one that warranted much attention.

But not anymore.

What are these things doing, stealing ore?
Create new companions?
Or……

Want to create a new "body" to escape the soul prison created by the Demon King before his death?
Roland walked along the forest path, lost in thought.

Occasionally, a magical beast would bare its teeth and try to attack him, but it was directly crushed into a pool of blood mist by the protective force field he formed with his psychic power.

Just as Roland was going deeper and deeper into this vast forest, which the locals called the Silent Forest, the golden tree rune stone that he had put away in the stone box flew out on its own. It then turned into a stream of light and began to fly deeper into the forest.

The sudden change forced Roland to interrupt his thoughts and chase after the runestone.

Fortunately, this thing doesn't fly very fast, and it leaves a long golden trail along its flight path, just like a quest guide in a game. You can reach the quest location by following the trail.

That's what Roland thought at that moment.

After all, before leaving, King Thran came over to remind Roland that the essence of this runestone was a key.

Now that this thing is acting strangely, could it have found a lock that it needs to open?

Isfar is truly a blessed land... it has everything.

Roland caught up with the runestone in no time and then saw a cluster of building ruins buried under bushes and thorns.

From these remains, where some general shape could still be discerned, Roland could tell that this place looked very much like... Russell's laboratory?

No, it should be said that it's a similar style.

The golden tree rune stone was quietly emitting golden light, hovering beside a pile of rubble that resembled a building entrance, as if guiding its owner.

(End of this chapter)