The Hero Diana (4)
The monster—seriously? This was supposed to be an ordinary countryside house!
I summoned the Holy Sword from my subspace and gripped it tightly.
It had been a month since my last real fight. But I’ve slaughtered over tens of thousands of monsters by now, you fool!
I wrapped the blade in holy power and mana, forming a sword aura.
Even the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings couldn’t withstand this!
“Kieeeeee…….”
The moment my sword aura sliced through the monster, it thrashed in a spray of bloody foam before collapsing dead.
I had clearly descended into the basement of a perfectly normal house. Yet what stretched before me now looked more like an enormous military base.
What the hell? Had they built a massive underground facility beneath this place?
I was certain I’d wiped out the Demon Army’s main forces. So why was a facility this huge still standing?
Had I missed someone?
I sensed multiple presences approaching. They must have detected me when I killed that monster. So that thing had been a sentry designed to alert intruders.
“A human? How could a human defeat the gatekeeper? Who are you?”
A demon. Judging by the uniform, he belonged to the Demon Army.
Of course. The only group that could make use of monsters like this was the Demon Army.
But the Demon Army should have collapsed after I killed the Demon King… How was it still organized?
As a hero, my duty was clear. Kill them all.
I channeled the Holy Sword’s power and swung.
Slaughtering demons? I’ve done it tens of thousands of times. These ragtag fools were nothing to me.
“Impossible! A mere human wielding this much holy power… Aaaargh!”
Not a hero? That’s a little hurtful! I am the hero, you know? The one who killed the Demon King?
I poked at the corpses of the already-dead demons with the tip of the Holy Sword.
Didn’t they recognize me? They were part of the Demon Army, yet none of them knew my face?
For now, I’d destroy this entire facility. If Paul’s parents had been dragged into a demon stronghold… I needed to find any trace of them.
The deeper I went into the facility, the more demons swarmed toward me.
I’d killed them all before…
Yet not a single one seemed to recognize my face. Had none of the demons who witnessed my battles with their kind ended up here? Was this some remote outpost?
I carved my way through the demons until I finally reached the lowest floor of the facility.
This door ahead probably led to the final chamber… It looked like an enormous room.
Beyond it, I could feel a massive concentration of demonic energy.
They were clearly planning to unleash everything the moment I opened it. Did these demons have any idea how many times I’d faced this exact tactic? It wasn’t going to work on me!
I kicked the door open and unleashed a powerful wave of sword energy from the Holy Sword.
The instant the door swung wide, the demons poured out spells and attacks, but it was pointless. This was the blade that had slain the Demon King himself!
That took care of every demon stationed inside the room. Was that all of them?
“Strange… That blade carries the power of a Holy Sword. Yet how can a Holy Sword still exist?”
!!!
That voice… No, it couldn’t be. I had definitely killed the Demon King!
Inside the chamber stood a colossal test tube. And floating within it was… a monster?
“What are you? Why do you have the Demon King’s voice?!”
“Hmm? You know that I am the Demon King? You’re no ordinary human, are you? It seems you saw me when I descended upon the surface in the past. Just who are you?”
What was this thing babbling about? Was this really the Demon King? There was no way the real Demon King wouldn’t recognize me. The moment he saw my face, he had charged at me in pure rage.
Back then, I had seen the Demon King’s face for the first time, yet he had recognized mine. It had felt strange. But now… this was different.
“What are you talking about? Are you truly the Demon King? You don’t know me? The hero?”
“The hero? That’s impossible. I have not yet properly descended upon the surface. How could a hero have already been born?”
I had killed the Demon King. At least seventy years should have passed before he could descend again. What was going on?
“However, that sword is undoubtedly the Holy Sword… So the shortcut I prepared to hasten my descent accidentally triggered the birth of a hero! Damn it all.”
“There’s no need to overcomplicate things. If I just get rid of you, everything will be solved.”
“It seems I have no choice. Though I am still incomplete… I shall descend.”
The test tube shattered. The monster’s form began shifting into a humanoid shape. Finally, it took on the unmistakable appearance of the Demon King.
Huh? It really was the Demon King? What was going on?
“This descent is still imperfect. And you are alone, without a single party member. A novice hero who has only just been born is nothing to me!”
The Demon King summoned his demonic energy and charged straight at me.
What? A novice hero? I was nothing without a party?
I’d show him. The power of the strongest hero in history—the one who had slain the Demon King at the fastest speed ever recorded!
I poured every ounce of my power into the Holy Sword. Once this thing was dead, there would be no more threats left in this place.
The Demon King’s hand collided with my Holy Sword.
“No! This is impossible! How can a novice hero possess this much power?!”
“Hah. Don’t get cocky, you worthless trash. I happen to be known as the greatest hero of all time! Die already, Demon King!”
I shattered the Demon King’s hand with the Holy Sword and drove the blade straight into his core.
The only weapon in the entire world capable of damaging the Demon King’s core was the Holy Sword. That was precisely why a hero capable of wielding it was always born whenever the Demon King appeared.
If I hadn’t happened to reach this village, the Demon King might have successfully descended again and caused catastrophic damage.
“Kuaaaargh! Me… to die so pathetically! Mark my words, hero. I will descend again. And when that day comes, it shall be the end of humanity!”
With those final words, the Demon King disintegrated into dust and vanished.
But seriously, why didn’t he remember me?
I had no idea what was going on.
I decided to search for any trace of Paul’s parents.
I thoroughly ransacked the final chamber. From what I could tell, it appeared to be a laboratory.
And inside, I discovered what looked like a journal written by the demon who had overseen this facility…
It would have been nice if I could question the demon who wrote it, but I had already killed him. Even if he were alive, he probably wouldn’t have answered me willingly. That was just how demons were.
I skimmed through the journal.
According to its contents, Paul’s parents had unfortunately visited the village chief’s house at the exact moment demons were coming and going from the facility’s entrance. They had been captured and dragged inside.
They were used as sacrifices to fuel the Demon King’s accelerated descent system.
There probably wasn’t even a body left.
This system had been designed to hasten the Demon King’s arrival.
So that was how he had descended.
But something in the journal felt off.
It stated that the current date was Imperial Year 909—fifty years after the Demon King’s previous descent.
If the system functioned successfully, it would allow the Demon King to descend again just one year later, only fifty-one years after the last invasion…
It hadn’t even been five years since I killed the Demon King. What did it mean, fifty years? And why was the date on this journal so strange?
Huh?
Wait a second.
A month ago, when I had spoken with Paul, hadn’t something similar happened? Our understanding of the current date had been completely different then too…
Could it be that the current timeline wasn’t the one I originally belonged to?
If that were true…
Then I had traveled to the past?
That would explain everything.
My interference had caused the Demon King’s attempt at rebirth to fail. That was why, in the next descent, he had recognized my face, flown into a rage, and charged straight at me. It all made sense.
If that was the case…
Was Dad still alive?
I could apologize to him!
Dad wouldn’t have to suffer anymore!
Dad… I had to find Dad. Right now, I was the strongest human alive, armed with the Holy Sword.
Making sure Dad could live happily would be the easiest thing in the world!
Having made up my mind to search for Dad, I dashed out of the Demon King’s facility. The moment I stepped out of the village chief’s house, I found Paul standing right in front of the door.
“……Diana sis. What have you been doing all this time?”
Ah. Right. I had completely forgotten about Paul.
“……I thought you had abandoned me too, just like my parents.”
“I’m sorry, Paul. I was actually trying to look for your parents.”
“My parents? Oh… Sis, you said you’d leave once they came back. So you wanted to abandon me quickly after all……”
For a moment, Paul’s expression looked exactly like mine when I had been a child.
It was the same foolish younger self who hadn’t been able to accept Dad’s true feelings and had run away.
Without thinking, I pulled Paul into a tight embrace.
“That’s not it, Paul. Sis has no intention of leaving you. Let’s go home and have dinner. The sun’s already starting to set.”
“……Yeah. You won’t abandon me… right?”
“Aww, I won’t abandon you, Paul.”
Ah, I had made that promise too hastily. I still needed to go look for Dad. What age would he be in this timeline? Since it was currently year 909… Hmm. Would he be around the same age as Paul right now?
“Sis, the ribbon in your hair is almost coming undone.”
Oh no, that wouldn’t do. It was a precious gift Dad had given me. I had nearly lost something so valuable.
“You really treasure that hair tie, don’t you, Sis? I like that color too. It’s blue. I like blue.”
“Really? Actually, my dad gave this to me. He really loved the color blue too. Back then, he told me… Um, let me see.”
“Blue was the symbol of freedom in the ancient empire that once brought about an age of peace and prosperity. I want to adventure freely too.”
— Why do you like blue, Dad?
— Blue symbolized freedom in the ancient empire that achieved an age of great peace. Dad likes that kind of freedom. That’s why I became a mercenary who can adventure freely.
And then the memory of that conversation with Dad from my childhood rose up. Wait… Could it be?
Dad?