Let's Do Better

“Huuu……”

Refreshing. I exhaled deeply and smiled with satisfaction. Wiping ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the sweat dripping down with the back of my hand, I began loosening my stiff body. As expected, people really should exercise to stay alive, right? Of course, that wasn’t the only reason I felt so proud.

Slowly, I lowered my gaze. A mountain of corpses. A sea of blood. I savored the landscape I had created atop that mountain of bodies. The once-lush green earth was now drenched in crimson blood, so thoroughly that not a single blade of grass remained visible. The city once teeming with life now held no living creatures; every breath had been extinguished. No, it wasn’t just this city. Across the entire continent, almost no living beings remained.

Extinction. The demons and the Demon King who had tried to invade the continent, along with those who opposed them—all of them, I had cleanly slaughtered with my own hands. I felt no regret. How could I?

“Fucking worthless bastards.”

These bastards had no intention of saving the continent. The Holy Kingdom ignored the crisis entirely, turning a blind eye to the threat just to expand their own territory. The Empire tried to profit from the chaos and ended up weakened by civil war. The other races hid away while the continent crumbled, refusing to emerge. The so-called heroines of this world, despite their positions and authority, only let themselves be dragged around by such people.

Put simply, this continent had been doomed to fall. And this was already the seventh time the world had ended like this. As a regressor, it was nothing but frustrating. Of course, some of the fault was mine too—but in my view, the real blame lay with them. If the world had been this rotten from the start, what difference would twisting myself inside out make?

Well… it wasn’t like doing this would end the regressions anyway. After all, the condition for completing a regression was achieving a perfect ending. Still, one good thing came out of it: my mood had improved considerably. After being dragged around for seven regressions, I had a lot of pent-up emotions. By settling everything cleanly this time, I could approach the next ending with a calmer mind.

With that thought, I spoke quietly.

“So? How does it feel?”

“……What do you mean.”

The silver-haired girl looked at me with half-dead eyes. The hero. The protagonist of this world. At Sylvia’s reply, I met her gaze with sunken eyes and continued.

“You all did nothing. The Empire, the Holy Kingdom, the other races… you could have fixed them, couldn’t you?”

The Saintess. The Hero. The Imperial Princess. Even the Elf Queen. So many people had stood by while the continent reached this state, even though they had the power to change it.

“That’s……”

“What kind of glory or wealth do you think I’m after, that I’d manipulate you all into leading the continent to ruin?”

I had warned them multiple times, yet they never listened. Letting out a bitter laugh, I curled my lips. Sylvia couldn’t say a word and only looked around at the ruined continent. Seeing the devastated land once more, her expression twisted.

“You probably ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠won’t remember this anyway, but consider it a warning from me.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Just tell me why you did this……!”

“It would have happened eventually. If things had continued this way, the Demon King’s army would have destroyed everything instead of me.”

It was time to end this. Deciding so, I rose from the mountain of corpses and gripped the sword in my hand tightly. The Demon Sword I had taken from the Demon King hummed and let out a savage cry.

“……That’s just an excuse.”

“You just don’t want to admit it.”

At Sylvia’s mutter, I answered calmly and raised the sword.

“So.”

I lifted the blade and pressed the gleaming edge of the Demon Sword against my neck. Feeling the cold, chilling touch of metal, I slowly began pushing the sword in.

“Let’s do better next time. So we can save the world.”

Thud……!!

The cold blade pierced through my neck. Even as death approached, I smiled and stared at Sylvia. I was disappointed in your attitudes, but that didn’t mean I hated you.

Watching her blue eyes widen in shock, I slowly closed my own.

I calmly read through the countless messages that appeared ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and organized my thoughts. I hope I can do better next time. After all, destroying everything just because things don’t go my way isn’t really my style.

Yeah. Let’s succeed this time.