Cedric Brightblade

I stare at the System messages.

> [Fate Intervention: 0%]

[Gods' Influence: Temporarily Disabled.]

Temporarily.

That word irritates me.

Because it means they'll be back.

The gods aren't the type to take "no" for an answer.

The moment they recover from my little script rewrite, they'll send someone worse than an Oracle.

Maybe a celestial knight. Maybe an archangel.

Hell, maybe a god themselves.

And I'm not ready for that yet.

I lean back in my throne, drumming my fingers against the armrest.

The Demon King's Castle is a fortress of obsidian and bone, surrounded by an endless storm of cursed lightning.

It's a symbol of terror, a place where the Demon King—me—is supposed to reign over all things evil.

But right now, it feels like a prison.

Because the System just reminded me that I'm still playing by someone else's rules.

And I hate that.

I pull up my System Interface.

> [Status Update: You Are Still Screwed.]

"Thanks, System."

That wasn't a real notification. Just me internalizing my problems.

The real messages appear a second later.

> [System Notice: World-State Synchronization Complete.]

[New Scenario Unlocked: "The Hero's March."]

[Main Quest: Survive the Hero's Assault.]

[Warning: A Champion of Light Has Been Deployed.]

Of course.

The gods can't kill me directly, so they're sending the next best thing.

The Hero.

"System, who's the Champion of Light?"

A new message pings.

> [Champion of Light: Cedric Brightblade.]

[Title: "The Invincible Hero."]

[Class: Chosen Warrior.]

[Current Location: Marching Toward the Demon King's Castle.]

I rub my temples.

"Cedric Brightblade?"

That's the most protagonist-sounding name I've ever heard.

And "Invincible Hero"? Really? The gods aren't even pretending to be fair.

I open another window.

> [Character Profile: Cedric Brightblade]

[Strength: S+]

[Agility: S]

[Endurance: S+]

[Charisma: SS]

[Luck: EX]

[Plot Armor: Unbreakable.]

Oh, hell no.

"System, explain 'Unbreakable Plot Armor.'"

A new message appears.

> [Unbreakable Plot Armor: The gods have personally blessed this hero. He cannot die unless the story demands it.]

I'm going to kill someone.

Preferably a god.

I don't care if this hero has "unbreakable" plot armor.

There's always a loophole.

I scan his stats again.

> [Luck: EX]

Wait.

EX-level Luck?

That's… interesting.

Luck that high doesn't just mean good things happen to him.

It means the world itself will bend over backwards to make sure he succeeds.

But the thing about EX-Luck?

It's volatile.

The stronger it is, the bigger the stakes.

Which means—

If I redirect his luck against him, the backlash will be catastrophic.

I grin.

I stand from my throne.

"Summon my generals."

Within seconds, the air cracks with teleportation magic.

Three figures appear.

1. Velka the Witch-Queen.

Master of dark sorcery.

Smarter than me (sometimes).

Probably planning to betray me.

2. Garos the Abyss Knight.

Unkillable undead warrior.

Hates talking.

More muscle than brain.

3. Morvath the Trickster Duke.

Master manipulator.

Loves mind games.

Probably already knows my plan.

Velka raises an eyebrow. "You called us?"

"We have a problem." I toss Cedric's stats at them.

Morvath whistles. "That's a hell of a stat sheet."

Garos just grunts.

Velka reads it carefully, then frowns. "Unbreakable plot armor?"

"Exactly."

"Then we can't kill him."

"Not directly," I agree. "But we don't need to kill him. We just need to make his luck backfire."

Morvath grins. "You're thinking of rigging fate against him?"

"More or less."

Velka taps her chin. "EX-Luck is tricky. If we manipulate it too much, it might turn back in his favor."

"That's why we don't fight him head-on," I say.

"We create a situation so chaotic that his luck has too many ways to activate. If we force a thousand different outcomes at once, something is bound to go catastrophically wrong for him."

Morvath starts laughing.

"Oh, this is going to be fun."

Velka sighs. "Fine. What's the plan?"

The plan is simple.

1. Spread false rumors that a legendary weapon is hidden in the castle.

2. Manipulate the warlords of the human kingdom into launching a rebellion at the exact same time as Cedric's attack.

3. Summon an eldritch horror from the void and let it run wild.

4. Activate every cursed artifact in the castle at once.

5. Ensure Cedric encounters all of the above… simultaneously.

It's not a battle.

It's a storm of absolute insanity.

A hundred different plotlines, all colliding at once.

Even with EX-Luck, there's no way Cedric comes out unscathed.

Morvath disappears first, vanishing into the shadows.

Velka starts chanting an ancient summoning ritual.

Garos simply cracks his neck and walks away.

I sit back on my throne, watching the storm begin.

The gods thought they could control the narrative.

But they forgot one thing—

I am the Final Boss.

And this story belongs to me.