Chapter 6: Let’s Relieve Stress by Destroying Nature!

Several days had passed since I entrusted (or rather, foisted) the destruction of the Great Forest of the Underworld onto Sophia and her crew.

I, Klaus Renford, had been spending my time weaving schemes with my boundless intellect.

The topic at hand, naturally—

(Now, how do I get Marquis Markovar to switch sides and bend the knee to me?)

In the game Altena Fantasia, Marquis Markovar was a schemer, using an organization called the Phantom Hand—a mix of humans and demons—to plot the kingdom’s overthrow.

And in the end, it was revealed that the true mastermind pulling the strings from behind was none other than Duke Luciel, the final boss. But, as anyone who’s played the game knows, the late-game plot rushed by at breakneck speed, leaving the finer details murky at best.

Still, this tidbit of knowledge should give me a significant edge in achieving my goals.

The problem, though, is how to prove it.

(If I could personally expose the connection between Marquis Markovar and the Phantom Hand, it might give me leverage to blackmail him…)

The idea flickered in my mind for a moment, but I shook my head.

Unfortunately, my repertoire of infiltration magic is limited, and there’s no guarantee of success.

If only I’d bothered to learn a few more skills outside of combat—

“Hold on a sec,” I muttered.

I turned my gaze to Marie, standing at my side.

Noticing my stare, she flashed a gentle smile.

“Is something the matter, Master?”

“…”

“Master?”

“Nah, it’s nothing.”

Up until now, I’d been teaching Marie assassination techniques, so for a moment, I wondered if she might have something useful.

But on second thought, most of what I’d taught her was poison handling and offensive magic—stuff like that.

The whole reason I trained her in assassination arts was to hone my own defenses against such tactics.

As my personal maid, Marie’s always by my side, so I never bothered with infiltration skills for her.

Who would’ve thought I’d come to regret that choice now, of all times?

(Ugh, if only Marie could use some kind of teleportation magic to zip around wherever she pleased—that’d be perfect!)

The wish bubbled up, but pining for what I don’t have is pointless.

Yeah, if it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t exist—simple as that!

“Phew.”

I let out a deep breath, as if to reset my thoughts.

Scheming and plotting was starting to wear me out.

Sad as it is, keeping this genius brain of mine running at full tilt takes a ton of energy.

—Alright, that’s it!

Time to blow off some steam by torching the Great Forest of the Underworld again!

I shot up from my chair and turned to Marie.

“Marie, we’re heading to the Great Forest.”

“Understood, Master.”

As expected of my loyal attendant.

Marie didn’t even question my intent—she just accepted my words without hesitation.

When we arrived at the Great Forest, what greeted us was the sight of Sophia and her knights, already in the midst of burning it to the ground.

The knights were channeling their magic, which Sophia, standing at the forefront, was gathering.

And then—

“【Linkage—Overdrive Barrage: Explosive Inferno】!”

A torrent of blazing flames roared forth, turning the surrounding area into a scorched wasteland.

It seemed they’d gotten the hang of their magic over the past few days, as the scale of destruction was about thirty percent larger than on the first day.

Still, it was maybe a fifth of what I could pull off alone.

As I mused over this, Sophia, panting heavily, turned and noticed me.

“K-Klaus-sama! You’re here!”

The knights around her, catching on a bit late, bowed their heads in respect.

Pretty commendable, considering they’re being forced to destroy a forest they’d rather not touch.

Heh, not bad. Feels good!

“You lot are working hard today, too,” I said, unusually generous with my praise.

Normally, this kind of thing might boost my reputation, but given the context—me forcing them to do something they hate—they should pick up on the sarcasm just fine.

But more importantly—

I turned my gaze to Sophia, who had approached me.

“Klaus-sama, what brings you here today? C-Could it be… you came to see me…?”

“? Yeah, something like that.”

Her voice had trailed off into a mumble, making it hard to catch the second half.

Probably something like, ‘Are you here to harass us again?’ I nodded, assuming that’s what she meant.

Sophia, for some reason, clapped both hands over her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.

Guess it hit her harder than I thought.

I could feel some kind of oppressive aura—maybe a dark vibe—radiating from behind me, but I ignored it for now.

Instead, I moved toward the smoldering destruction.

The knights, likely thinking their job was done for the day, looked relieved.

That’s when I spoke up.

“I’m feeling inspired. Let me show you lot the true essence of magic!”

Raising my hand, I gathered a massive surge of mana and unleashed it.

“【Overdrive Barrage: Explosive Inferno】”

The Great Forest erupted in flames.

The sheer power and scale of the blaze dwarfed Sophia’s earlier attempt, incinerating grass and trees in its relentless path.

Satisfied, I nodded to myself.

(Hell yeah! Doing this every day feels like a chore, but every now and then? It’s damn refreshing!)

I was ready to call it a day, basking in my handiwork—when suddenly:

“““GYAAAAAHHH!!! IT’S SO HOT!!!!”””

A chorus of screams echoed through the forest.

“…Huh?”

◇◆◇

Some time before Klaus and his group arrived at the Great Forest of the Underworld…

The Phantom Hand, under Marquis Markovar’s command, had made this place their stronghold for a few key reasons.

First, there was no better place to conceal their operations.

The Great Forest, teeming with powerful monsters, was technically part of the Solstia Kingdom but was a no-man’s-land where humans rarely ventured.

For the Phantom Hand—a group of skilled humans and demons—dealing with the monsters here was well within their capabilities.

The second reason was to dominate a certain group.

The Phantom Hand wasn’t the only one using this harsh environment as a hideout.

A race, coveted for their rarity and potent magical energy, had built a settlement here: the elves.

Thanks to their exceptional magical talent, the elves thrived in this unforgiving place.

Their history had also made them masters of concealment magic, allowing them to evade detection for generations.

But about ten days ago, a chance incident exposed the elves’ presence in the Great Forest to the Phantom Hand.

When this report reached Marquis Markovar, he saw an opportunity.

He ordered his subordinates to locate the elven settlement, eager to either subjugate them or sell them off for a fortune—elves were a prize he desperately wanted.

After some time, the Phantom Hand finally pinpointed the elven settlement.

They were preparing to launch an assault to bring the elves under their control when—

BOOM! CRASH!

A deafening explosion rocked the entire Great Forest.

The members of the Phantom Hand were thrown into chaos.

“What the hell was that!?”

“It’s like someone’s destroying part of the forest!”

“What!? The Marquis didn’t mention anything about this! What’s going on!?”

The absurdly destructive force, capable of engulfing even their stronghold, left them reeling. They quickly contacted Markovar for answers.

What they learned was shocking: Klaus Renford, the man rumored to have defeated two Demon King army executives, was here. By royal decree, he was systematically torching the Great Forest.

The Phantom Hand trembled at the thought that their hideout might have been discovered, and this was an attempt to wipe them out.

The destruction continued daily, and their focus shifted from the elven settlement to their own survival.

“What’s happening here?”

“To think someone with this kind of power exists…”

“If this keeps up, not only our base but the elves’ settlement might get obliterated first…”

They were at their wits’ end, grappling with what to do next.

But a few days later, the tide seemed to turn. The scale of destruction suddenly dropped to a tenth of what it had been.

They didn’t know why, but it was an opportunity they couldn’t ignore.

“If this massive magic keeps up, I was ready to order a retreat today. But this must be a sign. We’ll raid the elven settlement within the next few days, bring them under our control, and then fall back to a safe zone. Understood?”

“““Yes, sir!”””

The group nodded in agreement to their leader, a demon named Gardi.

But little did they know—

This decision would lead them straight into an even greater tragedy.

◇◆◇

Meanwhile…

The elves living in their secluded settlement were also facing a critical moment of decision amidst the relentless explosions shaking the Great Forest of the Underworld.

“What in the world are we supposed to do…?”

A woman muttered anxiously, her voice tinged with despair. Bathed in sunlight, her long golden hair shimmered, her ample bosom accentuated by a revealing outfit. Her name was Sedia, the chieftain of the elven clan residing in this settlement.

She was grappling with a dire problem.

Not long ago, one of her kin had encountered an organization calling itself the Phantom Hand, who had targeted them for capture. Though the elf managed to escape back to the settlement, scouts reported that the Phantom Hand was relentlessly searching for them.

Given the elves’ rare and coveted nature, Sedia, who had endured countless.

Threats to her people in the past, deemed this an emergency. To protect her clan, she enveloped the entire settlement in a magical barrier, resolving to stay hidden until the danger passed.

But the threat didn’t relent.

Almost immediately after, deafening explosions began rocking the forest daily.

It was likely the Phantom Hand, burning the forest to flush them out.

At this rate, their settlement would be discovered—or worse, incinerated. It was only a matter of time.

The elves were split down the middle on how to respond.

“Abandoning the settlement is pointless! We have nowhere else to go!”

“But staying here risks total annihilation. At the very least, we should let the children escape…”

“That’s reckless! We should fight back!”

The Great Forest of the Underworld was a harsh environment by any measure. Yet, over decades, Sedia and her people had wandered through countless locations before settling here.

Having built their home over the past several decades, the idea of finding a better place seemed unthinkable.

And yet, the Phantom Hand wasn’t kind enough to wait for them to reach a decision.

Just when the explosions seemed to quiet down, they breached the barrier and launched an attack on the settlement.

“Damn it… we’ll drive them back, no matter what!”

Under Sedia’s command, over a hundred elves fought desperately. Though they outnumbered their attackers, the Phantom Hand included several formidable demons.

The elves were gradually overwhelmed, on the verge of defeat—when, at that critical moment:

BOOM! CRASH!

The loudest explosion yet reverberated, and a hellish inferno surged right up to the edge of the settlement.

Miraculously, the flames bypassed every single elf, targeting only the members of the Phantom Hand with pinpoint precision.

“What… what just happened…?”

Sedia and her people were utterly bewildered by the unexpected turn of events.

This inferno was supposed to be the Phantom Hand’s doing, meant to hunt them down. So why was it engulfing only their enemies?

As if to answer, the Phantom Hand members let out frantic screams.

“No way! Why now, of all times, with an explosion this massive!?”

“And it’s targeting us instead of the elves…!”

“Klaus Renford! Don’t tell me… was this his plan all along!? Did he lure us out to wipe us out in one fell swoop!?”

“““GYAAAAAHHH!!! IT’S SO HOT!!!!”””

The flames consumed every last member of the Phantom Hand before vanishing, as if their purpose had been fulfilled.

Sedia and her clan could only stare, dumbfounded, at the scene unfolding before them.

“Chieftain, what just happened?”

“I don’t know… but from their final words, it seems this Klaus Renford protected us…”

Whoever he was, he was clearly an enemy of the Phantom Hand.

The question was: why would he save them?

“I’ve heard of Klaus Renford!”

A young girl with shoulder-length blonde hair, Linsia, suddenly spoke up.

As the settlement’s information gatherer, she occasionally ventured near human towns, using her keen hearing to collect valuable intel.

Since the Phantom Hand’s discovery, she’d been confined within the barrier, but before that, she’d been a vital source of information.

“You know him, Linsia?”

“Yes! I heard rumors on the wind. He’s a noble of the Solstia Kingdom, powerful enough to have defeated two Demon King army executives. Despite employing a black-haired attendant—a trait shunned in the kingdom—he’s said to be a saint-like figure, dedicating himself to saving everyone…”

“—! Could it be!?”

Sedia’s mind flashed to an ancient elven prophecy, passed down through generations.

Long ago, in a golden age when elves and humans lived together, corruption among some humans brought that era to an end.

But a prophecy was left behind:

‘One day, a chosen one—a savior—will rise from among humans and dispel the darkness surrounding the elven race.’

Initially dismissed as a mere tale, the prophecy had been etched into the hearts of every elven chieftain, including Sedia, as a beacon of hope.

Linsia’s words stirred her memory.

When the Phantom Hand attacked, why had the flames spared the elves, targeting only their enemies?

“It was almost… as if they were protecting us.”

From bitter experience, Sedia had no trust in humans—or demons, for that matter.

Many of her kin had been abducted by them, never to return.

She’d believed both races were nothing but savages.

But if someone had truly acted to save them…

This Klaus, could he be the savior she’d clung to since childhood?

“I see… the time for our salvation has finally come.”

“Chieftain? What do you mean?

”

“It means that Klaus Renford is, without a doubt, the savior we’ve long sought.”

“—!”

“We must welcome him with all our heart and soul! Come, everyone, prepare to receive our savior!”

“““Yes!!!”””

And so, with the Phantom Hand annihilated, the elves, overwhelmed with emotion, prepared to meet the savior who had protected them.

◇◆◇

Moments after I’d torched the Great Forest, reveling in the cathartic destruction, a cacophony of screams echoed through the area.

“““…”””

While the front was a chaotic mess, an eerie silence settled over our group.

Glancing back, I saw the knights pale-faced, Marie wearing her usual serene smile, and Sophia, for some reason, still covering her mouth, muttering something like, ‘To think Klaus-sama desires me so fiercely…’

Her voice was too soft to catch clearly, but it probably wasn’t important.

The real issue was those screams.

No doubt about it—someone had gotten caught in my spell.

“K-Klaus-sama, what was that…?”

One of the knights, face twisted in confusion, questioned me.

I could see the fear in his eyes—had I accidentally killed innocent civilians?

But I just grinned.

(No, this is an opportunity.)

If word got out that I’d not only destroyed the Great Forest on a whim but also killed civilians, my reputation would plummet.

That’s exactly the kind of infamy a villain aiming to be the final boss needs.

So, I decided to lean into it.

“No problem. Everything’s going exactly as planned.”

“W-What do you mean…?”

“Easier to show you than explain. Let’s go.”

With that, I led Marie, Sophia, and the knights forward.

This was it—the path to becoming the ultimate villain was surely unfolding!

“““We’ve been awaiting you, Klaus-dono!!!”””

“…Huh?”

What greeted me was a scorched wasteland—and beyond it, a crowd of over a hundred people. No, not people.

Their pointed ears and otherworldly beauty marked them unmistakably as elves.

(What the hell is going on!?)

Even I, genius that I am, couldn’t help but falter at this unexpected development.

In Altena Fantasia, elves were a myth—mentioned in lore but never appearing as characters.

Due to past conflicts, they avoided humans and demons alike. So why were they here?

(Wait a second.)

Looking past them, I saw a settlement large enough to house hundreds.

So, the elves had made the Great Forest of the Underworld their home.

And from those screams, it was clear my spell had claimed victims.

Likely, they were the elves’ kin, and now they were waiting to confront me, seeking vengeance. That had to be it.

Ironically, I’d just created a new grudge between elves and humans.

The Solstia Kingdom had been trying to mend ties with the elves, but their unknown whereabouts had stalled those efforts.

If I could sour relations further here, it’d surely tank my reputation in the capital.

(Not what I planned, but… this might turn out even better.)

Just as I grew confident, a golden-haired woman stepped forward, bowing deeply.

“I am Sedia, chieftain of this clan—and I thank you, Klaus-dono! Because you annihilated the Phantom Hand, our elven clan was saved!”

…Huh?

Did I hear that right?

“Did you just say… Phantom Hand?”

“Yes! They were after us, and we were on the brink of defeat… but thanks to you, look!”

She gestured to the scorched earth.

I was still struggling to process this, but apparently, the ones I’d taken out weren’t civilians—they were the Phantom Hand, Marquis Markovar’s minions.

Wait, hold on!

My whole plan was to dig up proof of Markovar’s connection to the Phantom Hand to strong-arm him into joining me.

But according to Sedia, I’d just obliterated the Phantom Hand with my own spell.

In other words, I’d personally incinerated the very evidence I needed.

“…”

As I stood there, stunned, more elves stepped forward, bowing one after another.

“That spell, wiping out those brutes in one go—it was magnificent!”

“Helping the weak, crushing the strong… I’ve admired you ever since I heard of you!”

“You truly are our savior! We’re eternally grateful!”

Their friendliness was almost unbelievable for such a reclusive race.

Misinterpreting my shock, Sedia spoke with fervent conviction.

“Of course, we won’t let our gratitude end with words. To show our deep respect and thanks to our savior, Klaus-dono—we, the elven clan, pledge to serve under you from this day forward!”

…What?

As my brain reeled from this nonsensical turn of events, the knights behind me erupted into cheers.

“The elves are pledging allegiance!? This is a miracle!”

“So this was the plan Klaus-sama spoke of!”

“As expected of my Klaus-sama!”

“…He’s my Master, Sophia-san.”

“M-Marie-san? You’re kind of intimidating right now…”

Each of them spouted whatever came to mind, but I couldn’t care less.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

What the hell did I even do!?

All I did was try to find dirt to blackmail that scumbag Markovar!

Blow off some steam with a massive spell that wrecked the forest!