The Anti-Intellectualism Demon King’s World Invasion

Chapter 31. Spirit World

The moment Yog-Tosos entered, everything ended.

From the beginning, the opposing world was a 〈culture〉-based world. After enduring severe torment for years, it had become so extremely impoverished that there was no strength left to resist.

Unlike the previous player, they couldn’t even put up a desperate fight. They just despaired, crying loudly or stabbing themselves in the neck with a knife or arrowhead to commit suicide.

First of all, the people’s complexion and health were not good. They had been tormented physically and mentally, and even the relatively splendid buildings, the carvings and paintings on rocks and trees, the dolmens built with considerable resources, and the ornaments made by weaving bones and stones…

Such precious cultural heritage of civilization was mercilessly destroyed.

No one could resist the storm summoned by Yog-Tosos. The piled-up megaliths, the diligently made artworks, the records they passed down orally and wrote, all were just turned to dust by overwhelming force.

It couldn’t be called a natural sight. Abnormal creatures, abnormal means, an extremely ‘unnatural’ sight.

Am I enjoying watching the iguana species, which are not even human, and some unknown species being swept away and dying in that unnatural storm?

Or am I just thinking that what should happen is happening?

Or am I feeling pity?

…Pity?

What’s the difference between the NPCs in the game and the ‘people’ who built that civilization?

If I say they are more noble, then I become a b*stard who kills such noble beings.

If I say they are no different from NPCs, then I become a b*stard who sees game data and people as the same.

Either way, isn’t it an attitude no different from that of a demon king?

“You’ve suddenly become sentimental.”

Rather than becoming sentimental, it’s because there’s nothing to do.

The rest of the consciousnesses are restoring my ecosystem, which has fallen below 10,000 points, and I’m observing the opposing ecosystem, checking Yog-Tosos’s battle and the opposing ecosystem. The flow of time felt by this avatar is adjusted to be perceived in real-time, so there’s plenty of leisure.

“An avatar that doesn’t focus on the game and plays around. Is that how I should think of it?”

An avatar responsible for humanity. The one I couldn’t erase. It’s one of the seven avatars I have now. One day, it will be one of dozens of avatars, and soon it will completely disappear.

“I don’t know.”

“Is it an important issue for the organizers?”

“Hmm? If you ask like that, the organizers are interested in it as a strategy.”

“Strategy?”

“Yes. The strategy of annihilating the opponent. The effectiveness and advantages of such a demon king-like strategy… You can guess that we didn’t just want to make anyone a god in this game, right? To be blunt, we’re just curious about which strategy will win.”

“Come to think of it, you don’t particularly dissuade or criticize my actions. You do mock me in a strange way, but it’s not really in a derisive tone.”

Then the angel gave a peculiar smile.

“Shall I treat you more formally then?”

Well, that’s a bit much. I’d rather you joke around, agree with me, and make a fuss. I prefer that.

“That’s the point.”

…Is this guy really stupid or just pretending to be, analyzing my personality and acting accordingly? His extremely likable appearance is also starting to bother me a lot.

The angel continued to chatter nonchalantly.

“Are you scared that the hosts know everything about you, Mr. Veen? Actually, we’ve already passed that point. Shouldn’t you be more curious about whether the hosts will keep their promises and how much power they actually have?”

“Indeed.”

“What can be absolutely guaranteed is… the hosts do not break the rules. If they fail to keep the rules, like they did with you last time, they will apologize and compensate. This game is extremely important to the hosts, but they don’t host it with the burden of having to lie.”

“In other words, even if someone wins and gains god-like power, it’s not a big deal?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Anyway, this game ends after 30 rounds. There are points to be earned. The hosts have already created the best possible world through simulation, and even if a player scores a billion times more, they can easily award the points. You can be absolutely assured of that.”

If they guarantee it like that, I have no choice but to believe it. I passed the point of disbelief long ago. If I didn’t believe, I wouldn’t have participated in the first place.

The hosts have unimaginably immense power, and to them, the rewards from this game are truly insignificant.

Then, there is something more important.

I think the massacre and destruction by Yog-Tosos is necessary right now.

Because I have to win. That’s all that matters.

The legendary figure who single-handedly destroyed half of my ecosystem, the iguana-human Shikadoz, looks up at the sky with a forlorn face.

His seemingly infinite “charm” is all exhausted. His splendid attire and all those who would regard him with dignity have disappeared, leaving him in a desolate and shabby state, just looking up. His magic is completely drained, and he can no longer resist.

Yog-Tosos responds by unleashing his most powerful storm, grinding him down completely.

「[Yog-Tosos] has passed the hero’s trial.」

「[Yog-Tosos] has passed the battle mage’s trial.」

The first message that appeared was this.

「You have won the world clash against player ‘Elguano’ and three other players.」

「Your world expands.」

And the destruction is complete. The opposing world is utterly destroyed, making it impossible for civilization to rebuild, and the desert legion has almost driven out the native life forms.

One of my avatars approaches and works on evolving the native creatures to fit the newly added ecosystem, while another avatar modifies the fragments of the god of the newly acquired land to integrate them into my world.

This is truly fascinating. I know I’m doing it, and I am actually doing it, but watching ‘myself’ quickly fix the world from a completely different perspective is quite something.

But I have tasks to do as the avatar in charge of humanity, community, and diplomacy.

“Yog-Tosos. Well done.”

【I am honored, my Creator.】

“You have passed the promotion test. However, I will postpone the promotion. We don’t know what the next disaster will be.”

【As you wish, my Creator,】

Although I could promote you immediately after passing the test, the maintenance cost would be enormous. Experience points will accumulate, so let’s prepare for now.

Unless this guy needs to hibernate or perform some ritual for the promotion, it doesn’t matter. The structure is such that I can promote him just by choosing to do so.

Yogo-Tosos returned to the Nectar Spring to sprinkle nectar over the world as my avatar instructed, and to replenish himself.

Even moving like that is a bit complicated and cumbersome. It becomes more so as the world expands.

Yogo-Tosos can fly at a speed of 60-70 km/h, so it’s not really slow, but it’s not fast enough to move anywhere in the world.

However, due to the geographical characteristics of the Nectar Spring, it is difficult to expand or flow further. Moving past that concern, I, as a kind of central personality, checked the tasks I had to do.

First. Managing the Nectar Oasis and Gumi Coral Reef, which have suffered considerable damage. Although Apohjus is doing a good job, honestly, the Nectar Oasis needs to be larger than it is now.

Second. Managing the freshwater lake and river ecosystems. This is really serious. From what I see, 90% of the ecosystem was killed, or rather, extinct, after being hit by Sikadoz’s rays. If Sikadoz enters the Nectar Oasis, he might get killed by the Bisyaquit swarm, so he persistently attacked the freshwater lake, bringing it to near extinction.

Third. Managing the existing cactus forest and valley. This is also devastating. I never thought the desert forest would be so ruined… At least the restoration is going smoothly.

Fourth. Editing the terrain and ecosystem of the newly acquired land. There is a “mountain” in the new land, so I need to decide whether to merge it or keep it as a separate mountain, and of course, restore the damaged ecosystem.

Fifth. Managing, repairing, and studying the “spiritual realm” and the newly discovered land, and receiving related advice from Sesaisa.

Sixth. Consulting Sesaisa’s world, which must be in a mess, as a fitting reward.

Seventh. Improving weaknesses to prepare for overall disasters.

“Disaster preparedness is very important. It’s worth using an avatar.”

After the fifth collision in the game, it’s not the “sixth collision” after the protection period. It enters the “disaster phase.” It’s an event that occurs every multiple of 5.

Although the timing of the disaster can be predicted, the type of disaster cannot be anticipated.

If the disaster is not overcome, a penalty trait must be accepted. Traits like “Eternal Famine,” “Eternal Night,” or “Eternal Madness.”

And I must prepare to overcome it with my ecosystem alone. And I must also overcome the “sixth collision” that will follow the disaster phase.

These seven tasks can be assigned to different avatars. So there’s no worry about that, but there’s one problem.

Sesaisa. Is this guy okay?

Just as I was thinking that, a message arrived.

[Sesaisa: Be amazed! The fight is finally over. Lord Veen. If you have time, could you visit my world and solve the meat problem you inquired about last time? Of course, I will also come to adjust the delicate flow of the spiritual realm that you must have messed up.]

Annoying as it is, fortunately, he’s alive.

[Veen: Saying it like that makes me a bit embarrassed 〉-〈 But I didn’t mess it up that much, and I even got a new spiritual realm, so please take a look ㅠ.ㅠ]

[Sesaisa: Wait, what did you get? Hey. Open the door right now!!! What the hell did you do!]

Why is he so surprised? It’s not like he didn’t touch it and is now getting annoyed…

Anyway, I also crossed over to Sesaisa’s world.

And I took a moment to see what those damn elephants were doing…

[Biin: You idiot!!! Of all places, you reclaimed a palm beach to plant oak trees? Are you insane!!!]

[Sesaisa: And they barely bear any fruit! Oh, it’s too horrific. The spiritual structures are interconnected in a way that’s more dreadful than I imagined. We need to tear down this monstrosity immediately!]

I held back my boiling anger and caressed Sesaisa’s ecosystem, and Sesaisa began to tear apart and rebuild the world, just as he had done with my marvelous ecosystem.

Yeah. I have to endure it because I need to win. So… where should I start?