The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

EP7. At the End of Darkness

There was endless darkness. I was floating in the infinite void where there was no horizon.

I couldn’t figure out why I was in a place like this. To be exact, I didn’t even think about it.

Instead, I explored the endless, pure darkness that could almost be called innocent.

The moment I focused my mind beyond the darkness, the darkness transformed.

Before I could even come to my senses, the darkness took on a color close to infinity, and that infinity subsided to create a single landscape.

What I saw before my eyes was none other than myself.

He licks the blood off his face and swings his sword madly.

A smile engulfed in madness. ‘I’ could feel the eerie voice along with that smile.

“Die… all of you, all of you die. This world has no place for scum like you.”

The demons turned around and ran away.

‘I’ smiled and chased after them, as if even their running away was a form of entertainment.

One spell can kill it. No, one arrow shot can kill it.

But that’s not the case. I chased them with my feet until the end, hoping that they would feel even greater fear and despair.

You can see that your stamina is decreasing. In the first place, it is impossible to run away from a being stronger than you at full speed for a long time when you were fighting an endless battle.

I know that fact. They know it too. Despair and fear well up in the eyes of the demons.

“Spread out! If we continue like this, we’ll all be killed by that crazy warrior!”

The demons split off from the main force in groups of two or three in different directions. Then, ‘I’ immediately killed those who split off from the main force with magic.

If you fall from the main unit, you die. All you can do is run away endlessly and get caught. That’s the message.

The demons eventually had neither physical strength nor mental power left. They had no strength left to fight against death.

‘I’ approached them with a look of pity on my face.

The holy sword glows. They all turn into corpses in an instant, and their heads fly into the sky.

I’m not happy about killing them all. They were caught too easily than I thought. I didn’t give them enough despair.

But there is nothing I can do. There are still many demons left, and there are still too many left to kill them all. Feeling a sense of futility, I roughly rubbed the blood off the holy sword.

And I looked at the sight.

Memories of a time when I was consumed by hatred and running wild.

Looking at it this way, it felt really new. The sight of him running wild felt like something that was a little distant from me.

I met those eyes.

I looked at my past self who hated demons and warlocks.

How would I appear to that ‘me’ of the past? Me, who became a black magician in order to defeat the Demon King.

… It didn’t matter. I knew it was time for me to wake up.

Again the background broke and darkness appeared, and I stepped beyond that darkness.

Consciousness rose.

I opened my eyes. I felt the wind blowing and the light streaming in through the gaps in the fabric.

I realized that I was sleeping in a tent.

Yes, I came here to help Tyrantus, met Lena, talked to her, and then fell asleep.

The dawn was coming. I relaxed my stiff body, stood up, and looked around.

Lena also appeared to have woken up from her sleep, having pitched her tent next to mine.

I stirred the ashes of the campfire that had just burned down.

“did you sleep well?”

Lena’s voice was heard.

I looked at her and said.

“Yeah, you?”

Lena scratched her cheek slightly and hesitated as if she was still awkward talking to me.

“Me too… I slept well.”

I nodded and re-lit the fire with new firewood, then put the vegetables and beef jerky in a pot and boiled it until it was soft, then handed it to her.

It is often thought that fairies are vegetarians, but in fact, fairies do not raise livestock. They hunt wild animals, and they only eat animals that have been hunted in a non-cruel manner. It seems that they eat meat given to them by others without any particular concerns.

I don’t remember exactly, but it’s strange that I remember something like this, but whatever.

Lena took the bowl I handed her and started eating.

After finishing breakfast quickly, she and I each had to do our own things.

“…I’m going to the palace. Do you want to come with me?”

When Lena asked, I shook my head.

“No, even if I go there, people will just feel uncomfortable. That’s why I’m going to stay here.”

“…Yeah, I see.”

I looked into the distance, leaving Lena behind as she left.

A crow was flying.

…

It had been a long time since Lena saw her father. His smiling face, as usual, gave her a strange feeling.

Brother, Ricardo’s death left a scar on Father. But in Lena’s eyes, it seemed as if Brother was still replaying the scene of Father’s death.

How will my father react when he finds out?

What would happen if the father, who was pained by the absence of his perfect successor, found out that his perfect son had actually rebelled?

Should I be angry? Should I be sad? Or should I-

She tried to shake the thought off.

“Yes, daughter. Thank you for coming. With you, the burden on those warlocks has been somewhat reduced.”

The name of Lena Tirentus was higher than that of any archer in the world. The reason was simple. It was a realm of transcendence, a realm that transcended the limits of race, not only for humans but also for fairies. There was no one in this world who had reached that realm, or even come close to it.

That is why her arrival in Tyrantus alone changed the mood on the battlefield.

Many fairies paid her compliments.

The fairies lost the perfect prince, but in return they gained the world’s most powerful princess.

But Lena couldn’t smile comfortably in her heart, only smiling on the outside.

Because I found out what was going on behind the scenes.

Lena thought of Ainzel, who had stubbornly refused to come to the royal capital.

‘Is it okay to be alone?’

To be honest, she was a little worried. If he died now, she didn’t know what she would do. When she first met Ainzel yesterday, he had been struggling against the warlocks.

And Lena’s worries turned out to be correct.

“They say that dark magicians have appeared near the border!”

The crash site reported by the messenger who came running out of breath was none other than where Ainzel was.

Lena bit her lip.

…

“Damn, I didn’t know it would take this long.”

A warlock frowned and said.

“I ended up wasting my time until the fairy princess arrived. Is it safe to say that there is no way to win this fight head-on?”

“Yes. There is no way you can defeat someone who has reached the realm of transcendence head-on.”

“So should we give up and withdraw here?”

Hearing those words, one of the warlocks opened his eyes wide and said.

“What!? Are you kidding me!? If I give up now, I won’t get anything! I’ll end up struggling like this for the rest of my life! Coming here was a gamble from the start. If I don’t win big here, I can’t do anything! Do you know how much energy I’ve already exhausted!?”

At those words, the warlocks began to worry again.

“The problem isn’t just the Fairy Princess. The warrior… no, the former warrior? Anyway, he’ll analyze and dismantle all the black magic we use. An all-out war won’t do anything. So… if we can’t retreat, we’ll have to aim for something else.”

“…Hmm, even so, I need a way to buy time against the warrior and the fairy princess. What should I do?”

“Don’t worry. I’m making a deal with someone who will buy you time.”

“Contract, I think. It seems like it’ll consume a lot of the sacrifices we’ve collected so far. One high-level demon won’t be able to do anything, so shouldn’t there be at least two?”

“It can’t be helped. If only I could get nutrients from the World Tree… If only I could do that, I could sufficiently supply black magic.”

“But would you accept making a contract with a high-level demon just to buy time? Demons have strong pride after all…”

“Hmm, if it’s permission, I already got it. Since the purpose is the purpose, I’ll cooperate.”

Upon hearing that, the warlocks began collectively making a groaning sound.

“I see. Well, it doesn’t make sense for the demons to refuse the contract after hearing that purpose. It can’t be done. Even on a grand scale, they wouldn’t have been able to refuse.”

“Yes. The demons may have strong pride, but at least they won’t do foolish things because of their pride. Okay, then it would be best for us to focus on the main force.”

So, the warlocks broke up the meeting.

And then, the next day, Ainzel felt a strong black magic being born.