The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP7. At the End of Darkness

Beatrice brought her face to Ainzel’s for a moment, but she hesitated.

There was a time when she tried to seduce Ainzel, but it was only because she was overcome by unbearable depression and was using alcohol as a distraction. Beatrice, in her right mind, would not have the courage to kiss someone she did not love.

To her, kissing was still the most sacred act among the relationships between men and women, something she had only learned a little about beyond her priestly life. She hesitated because of the compulsion to kiss only the person she loved.

But paradoxically, her hesitation did not prove that she did not love Ainzel.

She liked Ainzel. She liked his honest personality, his subtle consideration, and his smile. She could never say she disliked him.

But I felt like it was hard to put the words of love into my mouth. I felt like I had to say something after ‘I like you’, and I thought I could, but the gap between saying ‘I love you’ and saying something else seemed so vast.

Her chin felt like something was caught. She felt distant, unable to tell what lay beyond the boundary between the words “I like you” and “I love you.”

“I… Ainzel…”

Beatrice stroked Ainzel’s sleeping face.

Should I tell her? Should I not? Those questions quickly filled her head.

Then, after thinking about it, she smiled and chuckled.

It’s rude to even worry like this. For now, don’t make up your mind. So that you can speak with confidence, not in an ambiguous state.

Beatrice pushed her face away from his, then stroked his head and went back to her room.

Just seeing his face made me feel somewhat better about my uneasy heart.

“Fuck.”

Cardinal Bentham expressed his anger by using profanity that he would never normally utter.

“The Demon King… Is the Demon King a monster?”

No matter how elaborate the operation was, the human coalition forces were simply destroyed by that overwhelming force.

“I never thought I would end up saying that Grandis was better.”

A truly overwhelming force. Thousands of soldiers were swept away with a single strike of black magic.

“Why on earth did you not come forward until now and now you are doing this?”

Cardinal Bentham was racking his brain.

“Damn it… Was it wrong to make the warrior and the saint incapable of action? Oh my god, is that really so?”

Cardinal Bentham frowned.

“No matter how famous the warrior and the saint were, since they were all just humans, their evaluations were bound to differ from person to person. The saint was relatively well-known within the Empire, so her evaluation in countries other than the Empire was relatively worse than that of the Empire. So, thinking that they, as humans, could not unite humanity, they joined hands with the Pope, who had international influence, and attempted to unite humanity instead. As a result, humanity was united.”

Surprisingly, many of the leaders supported them and helped create the alliance. However, the allied forces that had barely managed to unite were easily destroyed by the Demon King, and as a result, even the leaders began to show signs of division.

“No… If there’s a bigger problem than that, it would be those damned gray soldiers.”

As soon as the ash soldiers took over the fortress and gained the initiative, they went on a rampage, increasing the soldiers’ fatigue to an indescribable level.

Soldiers with no physical limitations. Even those with incomparable fighting power compared to ordinary humans, yes, soldiers of unknown origin with fighting powers similar to those of demons replaced the demons and became the main force of the Demon King’s army. After that, everything started to go wrong.

Enemies showed an incredible degree of tactical freedom, coming from places you would never expect them to come, hiding in mountain ranges and then appearing from completely unexpected places.

“…The fortress should never have been taken from the beginning.”

This happened as soon as the fortress was taken and the enemy had the initiative. And when preparations for Grandis were finished and preparations for Malecidus were almost finished, Malecidus came.

If only the fortress hadn’t been taken back then…

Cardinal Bentham shook his head as he thought about that.

“…I can’t ask for help from the saints and warriors.”

It wasn’t a matter of pride. It was just that they thought it was funny that they were the ones who threw away the warrior and the saint and then brought them back, but more than anything, it was a matter of trust.

This alliance was launched on the pretext of the death of the saint and the warrior. Such an alliance, which was already in a shaky state, had a high possibility of disintegration if word spread that the warrior and the saint were not dead. And as soon as the alliance was disintegrated, it was also natural that humanity would be destroyed by the Demon King’s army.

Cardinal Bentham sighed and decided to take another look at the operation that would determine the fate of humanity. The operation that the Imperial strategists had worked together to create. If this operation failed, humanity’s fate would be in jeopardy.

“God… look down on mankind… .”

The Demon King looked at the soldiers before his eyes with a look of disapproval. He couldn’t understand why they were just humans, and why they were already terrified, and why they were rushing at him like that.

Well, it seems like he’s prepared this and that in his own way, but in the eyes of the Demon King, the being known to be closest to the God of Darkness, he’s just not the same. All he had to do was crush him with overwhelming force.

The Demon King raised his hand once.

Then, the sound of snapping fingers resonated heavily through the air, and the sky was engulfed in red lightning.

“Kuaaah!”

Screams spread everywhere. And the smell of burnt goods. The sound of war. The smell of war. The Demon King loved them.

The Demon King smiled with satisfaction. If the hero was dead, it was safe to assume that there were no more variables that could interfere with him.

The warrior tribe was always a group of beings who received strange powers and used those powers to hinder the Demon King, so it was quite a welcome thing that such beings had disappeared.

Since the battlefield has become so advantageous thanks to the Demon King’s own power, victory is probably a sure thing.

The Demon King’s face crumpled as he smiled with satisfaction.

“…Grandis.”

“Yes, it’s me, Demon King.”

Even though he was not that much older than her by the standards of the Demon Clan, he was angry that Grandis was here, even though he called her “old man.” The reason was,

“…Why are you here now?”

… the fact that Grandis was out of his position and here.

“I just thought it was boring.”

“Not fun? Does that mean you’re leaving the operation area assigned to you?”

“It’s a battlefield. The strange soldiers the Demon King brought will take care of it. I just came here because I didn’t want to waste time on a battlefield where I had nothing to do.”

“…Grandis.”

The Demon King called Grandis’ name once more. Grandis smiled and said.

“You think I’ll listen to your orders just because you say so? Don’t be fooled. I only accepted your offer to be your commander because it was fun. I’m not one of those idiots who would be loyal to you. Like… Malecidus.”

“I already know. And one of the reasons you accepted my offer was to take care of the children of your dead subordinates. But once you leave your operational area, why on earth should I treat you like a corps commander?”

“Ah- Then why don’t you bring something fun? I thought the warrior would be fun, but he’s already dead.”

“Ha, so that’s why you were lured by that warrior into a useless fight with a corpse?”

“That’s what makes it funny. You deliberately lured me from my path so that I could deal with the Lich King instead. He was fun because he was so unpredictable… but unfortunately, he died.”

“…Okay, since you’re here, why don’t you try using that black magic?”

“Huh? Why? Since you’re much stronger anyway?”

“If you fall short of my expectations, I think I should kill you. If you refuse my orders like this and your value as a weapon has fallen, I should dispose of you.”

“Oh, really?”

Grandis smiled crookedly. She knew that the Demon King was sincere.

The Demon King stared at Grandis with his bloodshot eyes.

Grandis sighed, then fired a huge fireball.

Sparks, dust, and screams flew everywhere.

The Demon King twisted his lips at the sight. He was looking at Grandis, who still retained her value as a weapon.

“…good night.”

As soon as the Demon King finished speaking, the Allied Forces were completely annihilated.