Return to the Canyon
The interior of the dungeon where the Holy Sword lay dormant.
Hero Cain had come here not by assembling a full hero party but with Mireia alone.
He had done no fighting himself; instead, he had let Mireia lead the charge, slaughtering the guardian monsters that patrolled the halls.
“Hah hah hah… Easy, easy. The old heroes were all idiots, no doubt. A hero who sets out on an adventure, meets companions, and grows slowly? Just bring the strongest subordinate from the start and the problem’s solved.”
“…….”
Mireia stared at him in silence, her face utterly expressionless.
To think that such a man could be called a hero. She was using him as bait for the demon race—especially Bloodstain—yet he was truly pitiful.
“But why on earth is the Holy Sword stored in a place like this? Once the Demon King is dead, it could simply be kept safely in the kingdom. Traveling this far already irritates me.”
Cain spat on the shattered remains of a guardian and grumbled to himself.
Anyone who knew the old tales of heroes and Demon Kings that spread across the continent would understand why.
Though the stories had been altered in the oral traditions and in the many books that existed, the core remained the same.
The Demon King appeared, and the power of demons and monsters swelled under his influence.
The Saintess received a divine revelation and designated a hero.
The hero awakened their power, set out on an adventure, and gathered companions whose hearts aligned before seeking the Holy Sword.
The hero party marched to the Demon King’s castle, fought the final battle, and defeated him.
After victory, the hero lost their power; the Holy Sword turned to light and reappeared in its original place when the next hero arrived.
Anyone born and raised in the kingdom—especially Mireia—knew this story.
Yet Cain, born in the slums and utterly uninterested in such legends, had no idea.
It was a part of him that made clear how little regard he held for the hero of this world.
“You’re far more useful than I expected.”
Cain stepped up behind Mireia, who had finished clearing the dungeon guardians, and reached to place a hand on her shoulder.
But the instant he did, Mireia spun around and fixed him with a cold glare.
“…….”
“Hey, why do you keep staring at me like that? I’m the hero. Without me, humanity is finished—the Demon King will wipe us out.”
Mireia knew.
Every hero who had appeared so far had slain the Demon King without fail. Heroes had never been defeated.
But if the hero died, there was no guarantee a new one would rise.
No one knew what would happen if the current hero were killed.
Without a hero, defeating the Demon King was impossible.
Staking humanity’s fate on killing the present hero to summon the next was a gamble no sane person would take.
That was why this man could act so carelessly and still be tolerated.
Yet Mireia had no intention of allowing this worthless hero to lay a hand on her.
To her, this fool was nothing more than bait to lure demons—particularly Bloodstain.
She understood the obvious truth that only a hero could defeat the Demon King.
Her own goal, however, had nothing to do with slaying the Demon King.
She wanted to kill Bloodstain for burning her hometown and stealing Yunoa from her.
And she wanted to slaughter as many demons and monsters as possible.
In her mind, that was all.
“…….”
“Tch. Acting so high and mighty.”
Cain felt an inexplicable threat in Mireia’s icy stare and reluctantly stepped back.
He had survived the slums by being exceptionally good at reading threats, and the look in Mireia’s eyes—as if she had already let something go—made him certain she might cut him down without hesitation.
He tore his gaze away from her stare and spat.
“Fine. Let’s go get the Holy Sword.”
***
Several days had passed since leaving Einblad, Shari’s homeland.
Queen Ludmila had used teleportation magic to send him straight to the eastern border of the Demon Realm.
The spell was powerful, yet it could not reach beyond the Demon Realm’s borders, so he had no choice but to continue on foot.
『Yunoa felt gratitude toward Ludmila’s merciful act that had allowed him to live and leave the Demon Realm. At the same time, he found himself wondering why she had not simply teleported him all the way to Kubel.』
It was not a bad feeling.
It had been some time since he left Kubel, and the human world was beginning to feel like a distant memory.
Still, leaving the land called the Demon Realm had changed the scenery he saw.
It was desolate yet strangely familiar.
Wild land untouched by either humans or demons, lying between their territories.
That was why neither race lived here in great numbers, yet it was a region teeming with monsters.
Passing through it would bring him to Horn Canyon, the place where he had fallen into the abyss.
After a long journey, he finally set foot once more on ground he recognized.
Even after the events in Einblad, Shari remained attached to his head.
The illustrated diary notes and books left by Shari’s mother, Forte, he had carefully preserved.
Among the requests he had made of Ludmila was the promise to take care of Forte’s belongings for Shari.
“I was scared, but she was surprisingly kind.”
Yunoa recalled Queen Ludmila’s regal figure and spoke softly.
Since that day, Shari had grown calmer, yet she had almost returned to her original self and could smile again.
Several days of steady walking toward the east, where Kubel lay, had finally brought the distant silhouette of Horn Canyon into view.
『Yunoa had returned to Horn Canyon, the site of fierce battles against monster troops and defensive lines.
Traces of the fighting remained visible, yet some new monsters had begun to stir.
They were not the purposeful forces that had once marched under demonic command.』
The moment Horn Canyon entered his sight, the narration supplied the latest information.
New monsters awakening? Monsters appearing was no longer surprising in this world.
With the Demon King’s power growing stronger, monsters had begun emerging across the land more and more often.
Still, he wondered how the battle had ended after he fell into the hole.
The last scene he remembered was Mireia blocking Bloodstain’s enormous axe with her sword.
The canyon cliffs and rocks had shattered under the shockwave; adventurers and monsters alike were hurled through the air.
Then the ground beneath him had collapsed, and he had fallen endlessly into the darkness below.
“Mireia…….”
Since the narration had not revealed the outcome, he imagined it once in his mind.
Bloodstain, a subordinate of the Demon King, had looked terrifyingly strong.
A massive, horse-headed monster of bulging muscle—ferocious enough to be called a monster rather than a demon.
Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not picture Mireia losing.
Both sides had seemed overwhelmingly powerful; his imagination could not decide the result.
Well, he would know once he reached Kubel.
First, he should check the canyon.
『The new monsters that had awakened in Horn Canyon were the very adventurers who had once fought alongside Yunoa.
Their corpses, slain in battle, had been reanimated by the Demon King’s influence.
Undead were monsters whose abilities from life could be inherited and grew stronger with each revival.
Though few in number, they were not to be underestimated.』
As he drew closer, the narration spoke again.
The corpses of those who had died in the canyon had become monsters.
He had seen with his own eyes how adventurers fell to monster attacks.
The fighting must have continued after he fell, so the number of victims had surely increased.
“No way… Did Mireia fall too?”
A sudden thought crossed his mind: perhaps she had been defeated by Bloodstain and turned into one of these undead.
If the narration was right and abilities from life passed to the undead, the result would be something beyond imagination.
No. That could not be.
No matter how he thought about it, Mireia did not seem the type to fall so easily to a monster.
He entered the canyon and drew the sword at his waist.
If the adventurers who had fought with him had truly become monsters, he would give them the peace they deserved.
In truth, he also wanted to test something.
He wanted to know how much stronger his mana had become after the special mana conversion he had used while imprisoned in the magic stone prison in Einblad.
The conversion at that time had been brief yet surprisingly effective; he had felt colored mana accumulating inside his body.
Mana accumulated through conversion was permanent.
It also strengthened the various techniques that used physical strength and mana.
Thanks to Shari, he had returned alive from the deepest reaches of the Demon Realm.
Perhaps he now possessed the ability to grant eternal rest to the adventurers who had become monsters.
As he stepped into the canyon, memories of the fierce battle that had once raged here came vividly back to life.
The broken cliffs and the defensive structures Mireia had helped raise still lay in ruins.
Between the narrow passages, monsters that wore the shapes of adventurers wandered aimlessly.
At first glance, they looked like living people.
Their movements were far more fluid than those of zombies.
Yet where eyes should have been, eerie blue flames burned with an unnatural hunger.
“So these are the undead…….”
Their numbers were not as great as the narration had suggested.
And, as expected, there was no sign of a monster resembling Mireia.
Still, they were the same as the comrades he had fought beside in the past.
Let them rest.
He drew his sword and began walking slowly and steadily toward the undead.