I'm Not the Final Boss' Lover Chapter 2

This world that I had unwittingly transmigrated into was an RPG game called 'The Sacred War'. Not only did the title evoke a sense of nostalgia, but the story was also a very classical trope: defeating the demon lord who wanted to achieve world domination. It was unbelievable that a game released in 2020 came with a plot like this. Granted, playability was more important to a game than the story, but anyway… The demon lord's attempt to take over the world resulted in the creation of dungeons throughout the continent, dangerous locations that were connected to the Demon Realm. The player's role was to accompany the protagonist—Fabian—in recruiting various characters and clearing dungeons.

One of those recruitable characters was the owner of the body I was inhabiting, 'Jun Karentia', a support mage in her mid-twenties with gray hair and cat-shaped scarlet eyes. She was my favorite character in The Sacred War… though, of course, that didn't mean I wanted to become her. It still eluded me how I ended up transmigrating into the game and possessing Jun, but again, moving on…

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In my original world, the demon lord was advertised as the final boss the player had to defeat to clear 'The Sacred War'—at least for the first playthrough of the game. Actually, the demon lord was a fake boss meant to take players by surprise; in other words, a figurehead. Once the player defeated the final boss hell-bent on world domination, the demon lord would be driven to his limits and go berserk. The player would then witness a hollow ending where the demon lord used his hidden core to turn back time.

But of course, that wasn't the end. This game had a feature that had become increasingly common within games of the latest generation: a hidden ending. To see that ending, the player had to begin a second playthrough. After going through the same storyline with the same characters and battling the demon lord for a second time, the plot would then branch out and proceed differently: the former rival of the protagonist, Dark Knight Mayer Knox, would suddenly appear in the demon lord's castle.

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The player would then learn that Mayer was the core of the demon lord. To be rid of the demon lord's curse that slumbered in his blood, the duke would slay the king of evil. However, there was an unexpected factor in all this—once the demon lord died, Mayer would absorb all his power. Consumed by the vast demonic energies, he would then become the new lord of the demons.

Only by killing Mayer Knox—who, upon becoming the second demon lord, would immediately go berserk—would the player be able to see the true ending.

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Therefore, joining his Dark Knights meant being booted straight out of the main story. Not to mention, once Mayer became the demon lord, there was a great likelihood that the Dark Knights corps would be captured and persecuted as demonic minions, and I didn't want to be involved in any of that!

My ultimate goal was to defeat the demon lord and then, as one of those who had fought alongside the champion, livkve a glorious life in the peaceful era that was to come. Even if joining the champion's side was not a possibility anymore, giving up my planned peaceful life of retirement was unacceptable.

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This was why I couldn't just up and join Mayer's side, despite the bitterness I felt from Fabian's betrayal. His offer that now seemed like a brilliant, golden rope of deliverance would soon become a rotten thread that led to my downfall. My situation was bad enough as it was; Mayer's appearance only worsened it, giving me a headache.

Cold sweat ran down my cheeks. I had to decline his offer no matter what… question was: how? The duke did not seem like a person who would back down easily. Even now, he was staring at me fiercely, his golden eyes glinting with the determination to have me join his expedition corps—by any means necessary.

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Chapter end