I Reincarnated as a Mob Villain Prince Who Dies Before the Game Starts ~ In Order to Be Happy with My Favorite Heroine's Younger Sister, I Overcame My Weakest Magic [Dark Blade] with Excessive Effort, and It Became the Strongest Broken Power ~ - Chapter 1: Reincarnated as the Mob Prince, the Final Boss's Brother

Chapter 1: Reincarnated as the Mob Prince, the Final Boss’s Brother

“Hey, no way…!?”

I came back from work and started playing my favorite game, Crisnights, but I was left dumbfounded.

I, a 29-year-old orphan, had been using games to fill the emptiness of my life. With no family, no friends, and no girlfriend, I’d play this game nonstop until late at night after coming home from work.

Feeling on top of the world, I entered the final battle, which was the climax of the story…

“The Demon King Diana… she’s too pitiful!”

This game is a heroic fantasy where the demon king, Diana—known as the Queen of the Black Moon—is defeated by the prince of a fallen kingdom, Ares.

Up until this point, the story had been progressing smoothly with a typical good-vs-evil plot, but during the climax, Diana’s tragic past was revealed.

“I understand how you feel… but for the sake of justice, I must defeat you!!”

Though the hero, Ares, was shaken, in the end, he pierced his sword through the demon king, Diana.

I couldn’t help but shout.

“No, if you understand, then don’t kill her! You’re the ruler of the world now… you could make peace with Diana! At least talk it out…”

Diana, the demon king, was a kind-hearted girl who fell into darkness.

I’ve always sympathized with enemy characters who have a sad past, and Diana’s situation hit me hard because her experiences of being abused by her father mirrored my own. It struck a critical chord in my heart.

Diana was originally a princess of the human nation, the Celestia Empire.

But when she was seven, she and her mother were attacked by assassins, and her mother was killed in front of her.

Just this alone was incredibly sad, and I was about to burst into tears.

I, too, lost my mother because of my father’s abuse when I was young, so I understood Diana’s feelings all too well.

Though the mastermind behind the assassination was never confirmed, it was rumored to have been one of the high-ranking officials in the empire.

Diana’s mother, Luna, was the princess of the Dark Elves, a race that her father, the emperor, had conquered. It seems that the Dark Elves, as part of their rebellion, tried to use Luna as their figurehead, leading to her assassination.

Afterward, Diana was used as a tool of war by her father, who had plans for world domination.

The Dark Elves were powerful, and her father originally intended to use Diana as a weapon because of her magic powers.

On the surface, the emperor acted as though he loved Diana, and she stood on the battlefield in hopes of earning her father’s love.

However, when Diana turned 14, the emperor suddenly betrayed her, trying to kill her.

“You’re no longer needed. The empire has subdued all the nations.”

The emperor was hailed as a hero for ending the era of war and bringing peace to the world. But there was no place for Diana in that peace.

Diana had become too strong, and because of her Dark Elf heritage, she was despised and seen as a threat by her father and her half-brothers.

“If you truly love your father, then take your own life.”

“What’s with that look? …Maybe I should’ve killed you and your mother back then.”

At this point, Diana learned the truth—that her father was behind the assassination attempt seven years ago. She was shocked, and so was I.

This toxic emperor reminded me of my own horrible father.

After my mother disappeared, my father started drinking and hitting me. I was scared of angering him because I thought he might kill me. So, I did everything I could to keep him in a good mood.

That’s why when my father died in a drunk driving accident, I felt a deep sense of relief.

In the end, my father was someone who never loved his children, not even a little.

Diana’s father, Emperor Alvais, was even worse than my own father.

This man killed Diana’s mother to quell the Dark Elf rebellion, and he used young Diana as a tool for his own ambitions.

“I’ll never forgive Emperor Alvais or anyone from the Celestia Empire who took my mother’s life!”

After narrowly escaping, Diana grew to hate not only her father but also the entire Celestia Empire and humanity.

I completely understood Diana’s feelings. If that had been my father, it would have been impossible not to lose all hope in humanity.

It was unforgivable that her four half-brothers tormented her and even participated in her execution.

Two years later, Diana became the queen of the Dark Elves, leading other monsters and creatures in a great war to destroy the empire—and humanity itself.

Prince Ares’ kingdom, a small nation under the Celestia Empire’s rule, was unfortunately one of the first to be destroyed.

Then, Prince Ares stood up, vowing to defeat the demon king, Diana.

“You did it, Prince Ares! Now we can restore the kingdom!”

“Our fallen comrades will be avenged!”

“Ah! With this, true peace will come to the world. Were you watching from heaven, Father? Mother?”

Prince Ares and his allies cheered, and it was a touching, emotional finale.

But I couldn’t feel any emotion at all.

Why? Because in her final moments, Demon King Diana whispered, “Mother…” with tears in her eyes.

“Is the scenario writer a demon!?”

At the end of the credits, there was a still shot of young Diana and her mother embracing each other, smiling.

It seemed to imply that Diana had returned to her happy childhood and found peace in heaven, but… am I supposed to feel moved by this? No, this is just too hopeless.

I was mentally devastated, and in a dazed state, I went to bed.

When I woke up, I saw an elaborate ceiling with engravings directly above me.

Huh? I should have been sleeping in my small apartment’s bed… Where am I?

“Ah…!”

I tried to sit up to check my surroundings, but my head felt incredibly heavy, and I couldn’t move my limbs properly. My voice also came out as a high-pitched sound.

What the hell is going on? What happened to me?

“Agya!?”

Panicked, I tried to shout for help, but all that came out was an incomprehensible scream.

For some reason, I couldn’t move my mouth properly.

“Could it be that I’ve caught some dangerous disease?”

I tried to check my body, lifting my right hand, but I was shocked to see a small, soft hand there.

…What? Could this be a baby’s hand?

I froze for a few seconds from the shock.

Did I become a baby? No way…?

But this tiny hand, like a mochi ball, is definitely not my hand.

As I was intensely confused, suddenly, my whole body became burning hot, like it was on fire.

“Ughhh!” I screamed from the unbearable pain. Something like an unknown magma-like current was raging inside me.

“What’s wrong, Luke!?”

Then the door to the room opened, and a girl, probably around 16 or 17, in a dress rushed in.

When I saw her, I was stunned.

Wait, is that Demon Lord Diana?

The girl, who was so beautiful she could have been a fairy, looked exactly like the Demon Lord Diana from Chris Knights.

But her skin was different. This girl had a brown complexion, while Diana had pale, snow-white skin.

And she was wearing a collar, like a dog. It seemed too extravagant for fashion—it looked like something a slave would wear.

“Ohh, it’s okay. You want mommy, don’t you?”

The girl picked me up.

Even in the middle of this intense pain, I felt an indescribable sense of comfort.

“Ah, it’s hot!? Could it be… magical power overload!? At 1 year old!?”

Magical power overload? What is she talking about?

But from the girl’s reaction, I could tell that something was wrong with my body temperature.

“O-o-oh, calm down! I-I remember, my mother’s teachings… You should sing and use magic!”

The girl was panicking, running around, but eventually, she seemed to make up her mind and spoke to me.

“Okay, Luke? To make the pain go away, we need to sing a song. Let’s sing happily with my mother, okay?”

“Eh…?”

The girl gave me a forced smile as she tried to soothe me.

Mother? Could this girl be my mother, now that I’ve turned into a baby?

It’s crazy to think that such a stunningly beautiful girl could be my mother, but right now, that’s the least of my worries.

“‘Chaos’ magic, come to me. Sword of darkness, appear—[Dark Blade] Dark Edge. Now, try saying it in your head?”

Hmm, what…?

Even in my feverish state, I remembered.

That’s right. That’s the incantation for the lowest-level magic [Dark Blade] Dark Edge from Chris Knights.

“Please, Luke! If you don’t, you’re going to die! Follow your mother, and sing it in your head!”

The girl desperately begged.

I could tell she was seriously trying to save me.

She spoke the incantation for [Dark Blade] Dark Edge again, while trying to make me believe it was a fun song.

I remembered from Chris Knights that children with too much magical power often die by the age of six because of magic overload. The phenomenon where their body temperature rises rapidly due to magical energy…

Could it be that I’ve been reincarnated into the world of Chris Knights?

I had seen this kind of situation in manga and anime about reincarnation before, but to have it happen to me… I couldn’t believe it.

“U-uh, sing…?”

“Yes, that’s right, Luke, you’re such a good boy! It’s a fun song. Let’s sing together!”

When I tried to communicate by speaking, the girl was thrilled.

“…Luke, you have to try! Not only my mother, but even my newborn sister Diana is cheering for you!”

The girl encouraged me while making me raise my hand toward the air.

Wait, Diana?

The girl who looked exactly like the Demon Lord Diana, and her daughter was named Diana? This was getting too crazy to be a coincidence… But now, I had to focus on surviving this crisis.

According to the game’s setting, magic overload could be stopped by using magic and consuming the magic power. This was a trial that only true magical geniuses could overcome, starting from a young age.

As the girl said, if I recited the incantation for [Dark Blade] Dark Edge in my head, the magic should activate without chanting.

Okay, calm down, I can do this.

“…C-chaos magic, come to me. Sword of darkness, appear—[Dark Blade] Dark Edge.”

At that moment, I felt something click in my head.

The magma-like heat in my body focused into my right hand, and I felt it being released.

“Ahhh!”

From my right hand, which I had raised toward the air, a small, dark-colored blade extended.

This was no doubt it.

It was exactly the same as the effect of [Dark Blade] Dark Edge that I had seen in Chris Knights many times.

“You did it, Luke! I can’t believe you can use [Dark Blade] Dark Edge… You’re a genius!”

The girl—my mother—happily hugged me close to her chest.

The intense heat that had been torturing me inside my body started to flow out of my right hand and gradually faded away.