Chapter 67
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: I Won't Forget You
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Eli's verdict fell from her lips. A death sentence pronounced upon herself, and a single phrase that sealed my fate. For the Demon King who had ravaged the empire's lands and claimed the lives of countless humans and demons alike, it was a fitting end. Denying her destiny, lashing out to devour the world, only to meet death at the hands of the chosen hero. Even if it were passed down in songs someday, it would be a tale without flaw.
But that was merely an end befitting the Demon King.
"Eli..."
I wiped away the endless tears streaming down my face, gazing at her through blurred vision. But she kept her eyes closed, not even looking my way.
"Eli... please..."
The sinful boy, who had failed to protect her, couldn't even bring himself to touch the girl. He could only repeat her name. Knowing full well that calling her wouldn't reach her, he kept saying it anyway.
"El..."
"I am Setha."
At that moment, Eli slowly lifted her head to look at me. Her pale pink lips parted as she added one more word.
"In human tongue, I am called the Demon King."
Her voice, even chillier than before, didn't pierce my ears but tore my heart to shreds. Traces of a gentle smile still lingered on her face, but even that was slowly hardening into a perfectly emotionless expression.
"No... you're..."
"Do you refuse to acknowledge your victory?"
Eli tilted her head slightly as she spoke. She slowly raised the hand that had limply fallen to the ground and placed it gently on her knee. The space around her twig-like, withered fingers rippled like waves.
"Eli..."
"Then I have no intention of acknowledging my defeat either."
Only then did I look around. Cracks formed in the whitened ground as the scattered feathers began gathering in one spot. Their movement was excruciatingly slow, but I could sense that given time, everything would return to its original state.
"Ah..."
I tried to call Eli's name again but looked at her face instead. Her face was cruelly devoid of any emotion. It was only then that I had no choice but to admit it.
The Eli I knew was no longer inside her.
What meaning would there be in struggling here without severing her neck? We'd just repeat this meaningless fight. Even if I won again, even if I found a way to end the battle through victory, by then every trace of Eli would have vanished completely.
No, perhaps it already had.
Expecting that tiny spark, born in the snowy field on that winter day, to still be alive was selfish of me. When I hadn't done a thing to protect it. When I couldn't even manage the simple act of turning back to look.
In the end, was all I could do to cling to the memories cremated within that tiny flame and weep?
"Haaa..."
I exhaled toward the sky beyond. Twilight was now fading, endless darkness descending upon the world. Even amid this wretched scene, you were slyly closing your eyes, forcing a choice upon me.
It seemed like two paths at first glance, but the correct answer was already set. Either sever her neck and become the hero, or die with the world. Choosing the former meant living the rest of my life embracing regret and lost memories. Choosing the latter meant dying without even that. Just like what I'd done to Leo. Refuse to choose and die; choose and await only a miserable outcome.
Not even a hollow laugh escaped me. My only sin against the world was being born, yet you were exacting such cruel vengeance for my original sin.
Or perhaps...
It was punishment for coveting the hero's fate.
Judgment for daring to dream big when even loving one girl was too much for me.
The feathers gathering toward me now floated in the air, heralding the prelude to another beginning. I stared at them before slowly rising to my feet.
As I stood, Eli's gaze followed me upward. The sun was casting its final light beyond the mountain ridge, and the feathers in the twilight glowed red in that light, softly enveloping us. It was a scene fitting for the finale of a foolish youth whose life had been stained with blood.
"..."
I raised my sword with trembling, slender hands. My reflection didn't show in the chipped, dulled blade. But I knew without seeing it how hideous I must look. The sword, gaunt and battered, bore the end of the dreams I'd dreamed in my naive youth.
If I'd known it would come to this... If I'd made a different choice, would my fate have changed even a little? Instead of running to Leo, if I'd gone beyond the walls. If I'd turned my steps to save the survivors after defeating the Minotaur. If I'd turned toward the Demon King's Castle that day before it instead of away.
On that day when it all began. If I'd just once turned my head for Eli.
Could I have avoided ending up in such a pitiful state?
Worthless regrets. Unattainable wishes.
"..."
Eli closed her eyes again as she watched me raise my sword. Her eyelids descending like a curtain with the darkness signaled that the true end had come.
"Demon King."
I deliberately repeated the name aloud. As if saying it would make all this easier. As if it would lighten my heart even a little. But no miracle occurred. Instead, other names surfaced in my mind.
Vanessa.
Rachel.
Eli.
I could hear them calling me. Hero. Luca. Luca. They had called me by different names and shared countless stories with me, some of which still burned vividly in my memory.
".."
There was a woman who, like me, had traversed countless battlefields and lost everything. She called me hero but understood the weight of the title, so she remembered me as a person, not the hero. And she taught me things I'd forgotten, stories I never knew. Perhaps she was my true mentor.
"..."
And there was a girl, steeped in vengeance just like me. Like me, she'd walked the path of revenge, offered an apology laced with regrets, and only at the end confessed everything. I should have foreseen my own end from her. Of course, it wouldn't have changed anything.
"....."
That day, had Eli, trying to stop me from leaving our hometown, foreseen all this? Had she sensed that I'd only be wounded in this harsh world and lose everything? The girl who, to stay by my side until the end, had slipped a ring on my finger was now bowing her head to meet death before me.
". ."
Two simple words circled my mind. Was this truly the last thing I could say? Amid the footprints I'd left behind, this was the final one remaining. Revenge. Regret. Choice. Fate. Through countless tales, the word delivered to me lingered on my tongue.
...Now.
It's time to choose.
"Ah..."
You forced fate upon me to the very end, under the name of choice. But it wasn't wrong. It truly was time to choose now.
I raised my sword high. The cold blade slicing through the air sent an insanely chilling sound.
A sword always cleaves something in two, forcing a choice between them.
Should I sever her neck?
Or abandon everything as is?
If I had to choose one...
...
...
...
"...Sorry."
Sorry for failing to protect you.
Sorry for not turning back that day.
Sorry for being foolish and stupid to the end.
But I never had a choice to begin with.
This is all I can do now.
"...I'm sorry."
I poured all those emotions into a single, meager apology. My sword hand trembled faintly before slashing through the air, and in that instant, I called her name one last time.
"Luca."
...
...
...
"...?"
As I called my own name, the Demon King furrowed her brow. A flicker of doubt crossed her face, which had anticipated death for a moment. I plunged the dulled sword into the white ground and called another name.
"Eli."
This time, hearing her own name, the Demon King opened her eyes and looked at me. I met her gaze and continued speaking.
"Artani. Verum. Erengti."
...
Wait.
Your voice echoed in my mind then. But instead of listening, I recalled what Vanessa had said that day.
...I've picked up a lot of military terms rolling around on that side. Ergo to advance forward. Luta to halt. And to turn back...
"Maden."
"...!"
The Demon King and you both gaped at me. I continued pouring out the words above that.
"Luca. Eli. Artani. Verum. Erengti. Maden."
...What are you doing...!
For the first time, I heard your panicked voice. Even you, who had gripped and shaken my fate, hadn't foreseen this. Desperately, I chanted the incantation again with fervent prayer.
"Luca."
Luca.
"Eli. Artani."
In Eli's name.
"Verum. Erengti."
Your time.
"Maden."
Turn back.
...But...!
In that instant, the Demon King's arm, covered in clinging feathers, lunged to silence me. But I caught it just before her claws pierced my throat.
"You have no right to wield that power. Hero."
Urgent now, you spoke through the Demon King's mouth. But I didn't waver, staring straight into her eyes.
"I do."
"No. You don't. Hero. That is..."
"Right. Only those contracted with the Demon King can use his power. That's why I have the right, Eli. Forgot?"
I raised my other hand before her eyes. There, still dazzlingly radiant, was the ring.
"We made a contract, Eli. Like Rachel and the Four Heavenly King she loved, we formed an eternal pact."
"But that contract was with Eli, not the Demon King."
"No. Coincidentally, that contract was made after Rachel's pact to surrender all her power to you. Isn't it?"
"But..."
"So I have every right to use this power. Just like that Four Heavenly King who sought to sacrifice himself for the woman he loved to the end, I can wield it too."
But...!
"As the Demon King's groom."
They both fell silent. Amid this unforeseen twist of fate, the youth from the prophecy ignored the two choices laid before him. He was turning back, seeking another path.
The choice to reset everything from the beginning.
...How can...!
Your shocked voice filled my head. As the one who had witnessed it all, an omnipotent yet impotent god, the thrill of not anticipating a mere puppet's thoughts coursed through my body.
...Impossible!!!
But no matter how you denied it, the choice was made. Every path I'd walked. Every person I'd met. Every word they'd spoken to me mingled with the lingering footprints, racing toward a final fate. Not the world's fate, but mine. Toward an ending no one could know.
"Augh...!"
Then, a numb sensation tingled at my fingertips. My scar-covered fingers stiffened, crumbling to sand that scattered into the air before vanishing into space without a trace.
...No!!!
You cried out in horror. That alone told me the incantation was activating. I gritted my teeth. The pain now surged from my fingers deep into my body, tormenting me relentlessly.
"Aaagh... Ack... Aaaahhh...!!!"
...Stop! I said stop!!!
"Guh... Kugh...!"
A sensation like parasites gnawing my insides made me cough, sand—not blood—pouring out and scattering into the air. Unable to endure, I collapsed to my knees, endlessly vomiting sand.
Ah.
Was this the pain Eli felt?
This... the pain Eli endured for me?
...No... Demon King!!!
Once more, your desperate plea echoed through the air. Hearing it this time, the Demon King lifted her head to the sky. I didn't need to hear what she was told or what story you shared—it was obvious. Gritting my teeth, I locked eyes with the Demon King.
"El... i..."
"..."
Hearing my voice writhing in agony, the Demon King slowly turned her gaze to me. Her now pitch-black eyes revealed nothing, no matter how deeply I peered. After staring long, she spoke in a low voice.
"This changes nothing."
Sand trickled from between her slightly parted lips. It must hurt, yet she didn't flinch, opening her mouth again.
"Rewinding time changes nothing. Rewinding time means resetting everything. You. Me. We'll lose all memories and return to the past. Repeat the same actions, meet the same fate."
"Kugh... Ah... Ugh..."
"You and I will suffer again, face each other here once more. That is our destiny."
"You say it... like you've tried it before."
Suddenly, one side of my vision went dark. One eye had turned to sand now. But with my remaining eye, I stared at her to the end and spoke.
"Have you ever tried turning it back...? Ever, Eli...?"
"...No."
"Then... you don't know."
I crawled desperately toward her on my remaining legs. I came face-to-face with Eli's face, changed but still so beautiful.
"Zero percent chance isn't the same as zero, Eli. It's basically one hundred percent."
"..."
"Even if I lose my memories, there's one thing I won't forget. This time, I absolutely won't leave you in pain."
"..."
"I promise, Eli. This time, I promise."
I tried to smile at her. But having gone so long without smiling, I'd forgotten how—my lips just twitched awkwardly upward. She looked at me mercilessly and said,
"Is that so."
Then, our bodies sank into the ground with a soft, astonishingly gentle sensation enveloping us. My legs had finally crumbled. Glancing down, the entire earth was turning to sand, scattering into the air. Now sky and earth, light and shadow, even the lingering mint scent in the air—all raced toward the past.
"Ah... Aaaagh...!"
"..."
I could feel it now—this was truly the end. My body was already crumbling to pieces, heading into the past. Hers too. Her entire form turned to sand, fading into darkness with the world. Gathering my last strength, I barely raised one hand to grasp her face.
"Eli."
"..."
An astonishingly soft texture spread across my palm. Her skin was still so warm. To remember this sensation, her face, every fleeting feeling across my body, I halted my own time for a moment.
Then, suddenly, that day's memory seeped into my mind, unfolding the familiar scene. Like you that day, I writhed in pain yet looked at you. Like me that day, you stared unmoving. Soon, your words from then echoed softly.
Don't forget me.
The words you'd mouthed back then rang vividly in my ears. After that endless span of time, the chance to answer had finally come. Like you that day, I opened my mouth with desperate longing.
"I won't forget you."
Amid the endless onslaught of pain, I barely uttered the words. In that instant, my hand scattered into sand, her form turning to tiny grains alongside mine. I wanted to repeat it once more, but my last eye crumbled, plunging everything into blackness.
Everything flowed back into the past, returning toward an unknown future. Amid it all, to not forget, I discarded every other memory, clinging desperately to one name alone.
Eli.
Eli.
Eli.
Eli.
Eli.
In the collapsing world, I clutched Eli's name with both hands, praying fervently. Please, let me not forget you. Let me truly reset everything this time.
As I prayed, a soft voice suddenly reached me. Perhaps an illusion, but that simple reply felt like an answer to my final words. Even as we hurtled toward the past, it resonated deep in my heart. Hearing her voice like salvation, I finally smiled genuinely.
"Yeah."