Episode 1
The Great Extra.
That was the nickname I had when I was part of the hero’s party.
But I had plenty of other nicknames too.
Because during the Age of Destruction, I left behind countless remarkable achievements thanks to my insane talent.
The Saint of the Mud, the Light’s Excavator, the Lantern in the Darkness, and so on.
“Honestly, I was just doing all that to make money. But all I got was a reputation that didn’t pay a dime.”
I coughed up blood and recalled my miserable past.
When I was twenty years old.
After escaping from a wretched family, I was roaming the back alleys, dreaming big about success.
Then the Bloodthirsty Demon King of the Magic Empire invaded the Light faction.
The Great War began.
Back then, I thought to myself:
“This is my once-in-a-lifetime chance. I’ll make a huge name for myself, and after the war ends, I’ll bask in endless wealth and glory!”
With that mindset, I endured all kinds of hellish hardships, accomplished countless tasks, and even joined the hero’s party at the very end. But it was all for nothing.
The hero’s party lost, and the Light faction was destroyed at the hands of the Magic Empire led by the Demon King.
“Ha, life. If I’d known it would end like this, I never would have gone through all that crap.”
I probably wouldn’t have even associated with the hero’s party.
But it was already too late for regrets.
At the final moment, I heard various voices.
“So, this is how it ends.”
A burning hatred just from hearing that voice.
…No, it was the hero, Evan.
“It shouldn’t have been me. Chris, you should have been the hero.”
Beside him, the archmage Lanya nodded bitterly in agreement.
“That’s right. If Chris had properly mastered sword and magic instead of all those miscellaneous skills, we wouldn’t have lost like this.”
It was a common lament among the hero’s party.
The reason I was able to leave so many great marks during the Age of Destruction was my insane genius.
An extraordinary talent that allowed me to master anything instantly and brilliantly.
Thanks to that talent, I could become a divine healer, a guide who could see a thousand miles ahead, a great artisan, and so much more.
But unfortunately, I never learned swordsmanship or magic.
“Even just by sneaking glances at the hero’s party, I reached a pretty high level.”
Four stars.
That was the level I achieved late, while traveling with the hero’s party.
To put it in perspective, the four-star prime class was a level that ordinary people without talent could never reach in a lifetime.
And I reached it without proper training or lessons—just by watching from the sidelines.
Both in sword and magic.
I joined the hero’s party in the latter half of the Age of Destruction, for less than three years. It was a crazy achievement.
That’s why people regretted it.
“Chris should have learned sword and magic, not all those random skills.”
They said if I had, the war’s outcome would have been completely different.
Maybe I could have even surpassed the hero and the demon king’s level of nine stars and reached ten stars.
The hero’s party even went so far as to say:
“If we could turn back time, we would have made Chris the hero.”
I grimaced.
“Yeah, right. Me, a hero? No way.”
I’d had enough hardship in this life.
If I ever got a chance to live again,
“I just want to be the son of a rich family, enjoying all the wealth and glory…”
But I couldn’t think any further.
Ragnarok had come to pass.
The Bloodthirsty Demon King’s goal wasn’t just to rule the world—it was to bring about true destruction, Ragnarok.
Black light stained the entire world, and the world met its end.
But why?
At that final moment, this thought crossed my mind:
“Please, let my next life be as the son of a rich family…”
Was it because of that wish?
I reincarnated.
About fifteen years ago.
That is, five years before the real start of the Age of Destruction.
And not in my original body, but exactly as I wished—a ridiculously wealthy son of a noble family.
But there was a problem.
Though rich, the family name was “Dark Maga.”
As ominous as it sounds, it was a prestigious house of the Magic Empire.
I, who was once the hope of the Light faction, had become the young master of the Dark Empire—the very land of the demon king who destroyed the world.
And this body?
A total screw-up.
“Damn it, this can’t be happening.”
I, Chris, stared gloomily out the window.
Outside, the mansion’s splendid garden stretched out.
But—
Clatter!
Goblins were tending the garden with delicate care.
Not only that.
From the mountain behind, a troll roared fiercely, chopping down trees with an axe.
A wyvern swooped down from the sky, dropped off a letter, and flew away.
“……”
Chris fell silent.
Monsters you’d expect to see only in a demon realm were peacefully going about their business in this mansion.
There was a reason.
This was the Magic Empire.
A dark empire ruled by demon lords, where demons, dark mages, black fiends, and magical beasts roamed freely.
The very empire that would later destroy the Light faction.
“Why the hell did I reincarnate as someone from the Magic Empire?! Aaaargh!”
I tore at my hair.
“All I wanted was to be a normal rich kid!!”
But no matter how much I pulled, nothing changed.
Three days had passed since I came to my senses, and I accepted reality.
“I have to decide. What am I going to do now?”
Chris thought quietly.
“…Maybe I should just ignore whatever’s coming and enjoy the wealth and glory?”
It was a perfectly possible option.
The Dark Maga family was one of the continent’s top noble houses—an incredibly wealthy family.
But—
“Ugh! I can’t just do that! If I let the Light faction be destroyed, I won’t survive either!”
There was a reason.
“I never imagined the Bloodthirsty Demon King would be such a madman.”
At first, when the Magic Empire invaded the Light Empire, no one was too worried.
Conflicts between the Dark faction—the Magic Empire—and the Light faction—the Crusade Alliance—were common.
But near the end of the Great War,
The true intention of the Bloodthirsty Demon King, who led the Magic Empire’s forces, was revealed.
He wasn’t just trying to conquer the Light faction.
Ragnarok. The destruction of the entire world was his goal.
By the time people realized this, no one could stop him.
The Bloodthirsty Demon King slaughtered all humans in the occupied lands as sacrifices and triggered Ragnarok.
Not just the Light faction, but the whole world was doomed.
In other words, if I just stood by, the world’s destruction would take me down too.
“Damn it, I have to stop this.”
Chris bit his lip hard.
“The problem is, I reincarnated into the Magic Empire. I have to find a way to save the world as a demon. As a demon… aaaargh!”
It would have been better if I’d reincarnated as someone from the Light faction.
But no, I ended up in a demon’s body.
It couldn’t be more miserable.
“At this point, there’s only one way.”
Chris gritted his teeth.
“I have to rise to the top of the Magic Empire.”
Just stopping the Bloodthirsty Demon King, who was merely the instigator, wouldn’t be enough.
He wasn’t alone in wanting destruction.
Many in the Magic Empire followed him.
“So I have to become someone who can stop them by standing at the very top of the Magic Empire. In other words, I have to become the highest-ranking demon lord.”
Chris thought it through.
“First, I’ll take control of my family, the Dark Maga. Then I’ll become the highest-ranking demon lord and rule the Magic Empire.”
There was a big advantage to this plan.
“The Magic Empire is the continent’s strongest nation. So if I reach the top, I can enjoy wealth and glory beyond imagination.”
Even in this situation, I hadn’t given up on my dream of wealth and glory.
The Magic Empire, a nation of demons, was known as the strongest power in the world.
If I became a demon lord there, I’d enjoy a level of luxury incomparable to any ordinary silver spoon.
Chris made a firm vow.
“First, I’ll become a demon lord and stop the destruction. After that, I’ll kick back and enjoy the ultimate wealth and glory without lifting a finger!”
But there was a problem.
The identity of the body Chris had possessed.
The status was fine.
I was a bloodline of the Dark Maga, a prestigious family of the Magic Empire.
A position close to the core of the Magic Empire.
The problem was that this body was a screw-up.
“Not just a screw-up, but the worst kind of screw-up.”
The body Chris had possessed was infamous even among the Light faction.
A total delinquent who would meet a horrible death.
“A worthless bastard. If it weren’t for the family’s protection, I’d have torn him apart myself.”
“Not long now. The main family is even considering disowning him.”
In short, this body was the worst trash among trash.
It wouldn’t be surprising if I got discarded at any moment.
An extreme condition where I had to rise from a worthless delinquent to the top of the Magic Empire.
“But I can do it. It’s definitely possible.”
Chris thought simply about why he was confident.
“Because I’m a genius.”
The driving force that allowed him to leave so many great marks during the Age of Destruction.
An unparalleled talent.
In fact, even the word “genius” wasn’t enough to describe his talent.
So, I could do it.
“Let’s begin.”