James began opening his eyes with difficulty.
His head was spinning and it took him a couple of seconds to focus on what was in front of him, but when he finally did, he froze instantly.
"What the hell..."
James was seated on an imposing throne of stone and dark metal, with carved details along the sides.
It was elevated on a platform reached by a long staircase, and from there James could see the immense hall stretching out before him.
Along the sides were rows of columns that repeated all the way to the back, and between each column torches burned.
The floor was covered by a worn wine-colored carpet that ran straight from the door at the back all the way to the foot of the throne.
James had played enough video games in his life to recognize the place instantly.
’This... is this a final boss room?’
And before he could process what that meant, a translucent screen appeared floating in the air, right in front of his face, with a bluish glow that lit up his features in the dim light.
[Welcome, Great Demon Lord]
James stared at the text in front of him in disbelief.
"...Great Demon Lord?"
The screen flickered, as if responding to him, and the text changed.
[Displaying User Profile.]
[Stats]
[Strength: SSS]
[Endurance: SSS]
[Speed: SSS]
[Agility: SSS]
[Magic Power: SSS]
[Magic Defense: SSS]
[Vitality: SSS]
[Perception: SSS]
[Luck: SSS]
James was no expert, but he at least had some experience with video games.
And if his memory served him right, the categories were usually ordered from worst to best: F, E, D, C, B, A, and S.
However, this went far beyond that.
He didn’t have a single S, he had three, across absolutely every single stat.
"What the hell is all of this?"
His voice echoed through the empty hall and came back to him as a reverberation.
Then the screen in front of him flickered and the text changed once more.
[Initiating Tutorial...]
[New Main Quest active]
[Name: The Final Battle Between Good and Evil]
[Objective: Defeat the Hero]
[Calculating reward...]
[$#@!%&*...]
[███▒▒▒░░]
[Calculating penalty...]
[0x000000F]
[%$##!@]
While the interface had gone from displaying clear information to spitting out a cascade of errors, symbols, and corrupted text, the main message had remained clear.
"Defeat the hero..." he read quietly, frowning.
Then he fell back against the throne and let all the air out of his lungs in a long sigh.
"This has to be a goddamn joke..."
After several minutes staring at the ceiling and waiting, without much faith, for something to happen, James decided it was time to take the initiative.
’Alright, it’s clear that sitting here isn’t going to solve anything,’ he thought with resignation.
He pressed his arms against the armrests and pushed himself to his feet.
But the moment he did, he noticed something strange.
His body felt incredibly light.
And while he could feel some weight on his shoulders, arms, and legs, his body carried it without the slightest effort, as if that load simply didn’t exist.
Intrigued, he looked down and discovered he was dressed from head to toe in an imposing black suit of armor.
The armor plates were covered in runes and symbols he didn’t recognize.
The gauntlets ended in sharp metal claws, and the enormous pauldrons jutting from his shoulders gave him a far more intimidating appearance.
It was exactly the kind of armor the final boss of a dark fantasy video game would wear.
"This definitely doesn’t look good," he muttered, looking around more carefully. "Yeah... best to get out of here as soon as possible."
James began descending the throne’s staircase step by step, careful not to trip over his own armor, and started crossing the hall toward the large door at the far end.
While he walked along the wine-colored carpet, James looked to both sides searching for a more discreet exit or, at the very least, a window he could look through.
But he found nothing.
The only way out appeared to be the enormous double stone door at the far end of the hall.
And just as he reached the center of the room, the entrance exploded, sending both doors flying inward.
One of them crossed the hall at an absurd speed, passing just inches from James before continuing on and slamming full force into the throne, destroying it instantly.
"What the hell was that?!" he said, spinning immediately toward the entrance.
In front of him, in the gap where the door had been, a large cloud of dust rose and covered everything.
But through the dust, James managed to make out something moving.
The silhouette advanced until the cloud of dust around it began to dissipate, and little by little the figure came into view.
She was a beautiful young woman with long blonde hair resting on her shoulders and striking eyes of an intense red.
Her white, carefully polished armor was the perfect opposite of the black armor James was wearing.
In one hand she held a long sword with a silver blade, and above her head, floating a few inches above her, was a white halo.
"So you’re the new Demon Lord..." she said, stopping a few yards away.
"Uh... hi?" James replied, raising one hand awkwardly.
She ignored the greeting completely.
"I don’t know what hole you crawled out of, or how you managed to defeat the previous Demon Lord," the woman continued, not taking her eyes off him for a second. "But none of that matters anymore, because this endless war ends today."
"Look, I think there’s a small misunderstanding here—"
"For centuries, those of your kind have spread terror throughout this world," she kept talking, raising her voice over his. "They’ve burned villages, enslaved entire peoples, and stained this land with the blood of innocents."
"..."
"So prepare yourself, because I am the one who will put an end to your existence." She raised her sword and pointed it directly at him. "I am the sword that protects the weak and the light that dispels the darkness."
’...Did she seriously just say all of that in one breath?’ James thought, somewhat surprised. ’How long did it take her to memorize all that stuff?’
And while James wanted to ask, he knew this wasn’t the best moment for it.
"Wait, wait, listen to me for just one second," he said, raising both hands in front of him. "I know you probably won’t believe me but I swear it’s all one huge misunderstanding... I literally got here ten minutes ago—"
"I’m not going to listen to your lies, you damn demon."
"It’s not a lie, it’s—"
James didn’t even get to finish speaking when the woman bent her knees, adjusted her grip on her sword, and in a single motion launched herself at him.
She moved so fast he could barely follow her with his eyes.
One moment she was several yards away, and the next she was practically on top of him, sword about to make impact.
"This is going to hurt..."