Zugzwang (4)
The backlash from pushing Copy beyond its limits crashed into me.
Pain surged through my body like electricity. My legs gave out, knees buckling as my balance shattered.
“Kgh…! Haa, hah….”
Dark red blood spewed from my mouth and splattered across the ground. Even breathing hurt so much I could barely endure it.
“…That Holy Sword really is the real deal.”
At that moment, perhaps because I had copied the Hero’s qualification, Einherjar banished the Blood Knight and returned to my hand.
It felt as though the legendary weapon recognized me, its long-lost master.
──Clang!
I used the sword like a cane to keep myself from collapsing. Every muscle and nerve screamed, but the most dangerous moment in any fight is right after it ends.
That is when an enemy’s attack is most likely to land—when the heat of battle fades and tension slips.
I couldn’t afford to relax. I had seen dark mages turn fallen comrades into bombs to catch people off guard during cleanup.
‘If the enemy isn’t dead yet, I’ll have to use my last resort.’
They call this PTSD, don’t they? I forced my trembling hand up to my lips.
I curled the fingers of my right hand into a circle, ready to blow a whistle.
But the attempt failed.
“Are you all right, Shade? The enemy has fallen. You can rest now. There’s no need to push yourself any further.”
“You… just how much of the future do you know….”
Hero Demian had crossed Phantom’s barrier and appeared at my side without my noticing.
As if he had known I would collapse, he was already supporting my waist.
“This isn’t the right time to talk about it. Sometimes it’s better not to speak of the future out loud.”
“Haa… hah… kh…!”
With Demian’s help I tried to stand, but my legs had no strength left. It felt as though my entire body was burning, trying to reduce me to ash.
“There’s a potion at my waist… If I use that…”
“No. That only dulls the pain. It won’t heal you. Are you trying to overdo it again?”
I asked Demian to give me the emergency painkiller I had brought, but he shook his head firmly.
“You were about to risk your life with another technique earlier, weren’t you? Because you thought the Blood Knight might still be alive. Please value your own body a little more.”
“……Hah.”
“You’re not alone anymore, Shade.”
Demian even knew what the whistle meant. Even if he could see the future through some ability, it was enough to give me chills.
Unease.
A thick, clammy lump of emotion pressed against me where our bodies touched.
“Up we go. This should be more comfortable, right?”
Reading my reaction, Demian simply scooped me up in his arms, creating an embarrassing scene.
“Put me down…! Kh!”
“No more talking, Master. I’ll carry you safely. Woof.”
I told him to set me down out of sheer embarrassment, but only a gentle curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
This guy actually enjoys teasing me?
I had once heard from his girlfriend who played as Demian that he was surprisingly affectionate and playful.
Of course, I had never touched him myself.
The reason the game earned its NTR reputation was because Demian, while completely excluding the player, enjoyed skinship and private conversations with every female character.
- Shade! Are you okay?
“Yes, he should be fine. He won’t be able to move properly for about a day, though.”
Demian even said this to Phantom, the Shadow Wolf, relaying that I was all right in my place.
- Really? Thanks!
Maybe he had some kind of pheromone that worked on every woman; even the wary Phantom was wagging her tail happily.
“Demian, what exactly is going on right now….”
“As expected of Demian! You took care of that terrifying red knight!”
“The guy in your arms passed out? He looks fine on the outside. Did you win thanks to Demian again?”
“D-Demian… W-We won, right…?”
Even the others who had regained consciousness after drinking healing potions were all praising Demian’s bravery.
Of course, unlike the original story, Demian had worked hard this time too, but the one who had completely erased the Blood Knight without a trace was me.
‘My voice won’t come out. If this were the original Demian, he would be claiming the achievement I created as his own right now…’
The once-lush forest had been reduced to a barren clearing, as if a bomb had gone off. Standing proudly in the middle of it was Demian.
So I tried to tell the other female characters that it had been my doing, but—
“No, it wasn’t me. It’s all thanks to Shade coming here.”
Demian shook his head and looked at my mask with soft golden eyes instead of at his companions. His expression held worry, not fear or relief.
Why? If he knew the techniques and sights I had shown while destroying the Blood Knight, I had expected him to fear me or steal the credit.
“…Shade ended up like this because he was trying to save all of us.”
There was a slight edge to his words. Only I, standing close, could see the concern on his face for my ruined condition.
“What, is he actually that much of a weakling? No, if he were, he wouldn’t have turned the forest into this mess…”
“If that is truly the case, may I heal him? It pains me to see Demian go to such trouble.”
“Th-That’s right! Why is Demian carrying Shade? We could just use magic…”
Their lines, which seemed to favor Demian while rejecting the player, were exactly the same as in the original.
In the end, I was the one who had suffered the most and healed their wounds, yet they were ignoring that and only caring for Demian.
“…Don’t lay a single finger on him. You don’t know anything about Shade.”
However, Demian spoke to Luna—who had aimed her staff to cast a transport spell—in a cold voice.
“What?”
The atmosphere instantly froze. The emotion in his voice and expression was clearly disgust and contempt.
Strange. In the original, Demian had relied on the women because of his complex about being the Hero.
“The side effects of Copy aren’t something that can be fixed with ordinary holy power or magic. I told you before, didn’t I? It’s not just stealing.”
Demian’s golden eyes now burned with a fierce possessiveness, as if warning them not to touch what was his.
‘Did the future change because he knows about it? Or is he simply acknowledging what I went through?’
I didn’t know. I didn’t have the mental clarity to ponder it right now.
A rich rose scent—the same perfume someone used to wear often—clung to my senses and dulled my reason.
“Shade is the one who healed us, and we’re all still alive because of him. Aren’t you all being too harsh? Hahaha.”
Demian laughed, but the emotion behind it was disappointment.
In the original story he had been close with the female characters and pushed the player into a supporting role, yet now he was defending me.
“Demian…”
“We need to get stronger. At the very least, strong enough not to hold Shade back like this… But it seems you still have the energy to complain.”
My vision blurred. Strength drained from my entire body.
Even though Demian wore hard armor, he held me carefully so I felt no discomfort.
“I’ll take care of Shade. It’s better for two men to handle this sort of thing, don’t you think? I should probably change his sweat-soaked clothes first.”
I wanted to say no, but I no longer had the strength.
“You’re right. We can’t exactly look at a man’s naked body. Though the Saintess might be an exception.”
“No matter how devout I am, I have no such hobby. Let’s leave it to Demian.”
The others all agreed that Demian, being male, should nurse me.
All while I still didn’t know how much of the future Demian knew or why he was so fixated on me.
[Favorability status has been updated.]
[All favorability +10%]
The last thing I saw before darkness took me was the translucent status window.
[Isabella’s favorability: -100%]
[Luna’s favorability: -90%]
[Laybe’s favorability: -90%]
[Calliope’s favorability: -80%]
After going through all that trouble—so much that I couldn’t even move a finger—and healing everyone, this was all I got.
I found myself envying whatever method Demian had used to win the women over.
Thus, I fell into a deep sleep.
A sleep so deep that memories of the past rose up and turned into nightmares.
* * *
After Hero Demian and his companions took the fallen Shade to the nearest inn, several figures appeared in the devastated forest.
“Lady Aresvon, what is this….”
“Someone has dealt with the Blood Knight. The moon that was red until just now has returned to normal.”
Battle King Aresvon.
Her true identity was Aresvon, one of the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings, along with her subordinate.
The area where Shade had thrown Einherjar had been flattened, erasing all terrain features, and every trace of the Blood Knight had vanished.
As if this ending had never been meant to happen, they wandered the surroundings searching for something.
“Another possibility. According to the Demon King’s words… a Bad Ending? One of the futures Hero Demian could have experienced.”
With the clanking of armor, the black knight with ten arms in total relayed the information he had gathered.
“The Hero who lost everyone precious to him and went mad. The one who never stopped swinging his sword even when covered in blood. That existence.”
“You don’t mean…!”
“Yes. The fact that this was killed means someone who can influence possibilities has appeared.”
Aresvon touched the surrounding soil and felt the purifying energy of Einherjar.
“…An Irregular. Don’t tell me there are two Heroes?”
“Even so, that possibility seems slim. All previous Heroes were male, and there was only ever one.”
“No. No matter how strong Hero Demian becomes, he cannot defeat his own future self pushed to the extreme. It would be a contradiction.”
“Ah, that does make sense.”
“An individual strong enough to even purify the unfortunate future Hero has intervened… That must be the correct interpretation.”
The blue flame within the black armor flared brightly. She nodded once and rose to her feet.
“Send a messenger bird to the Demon King. Tell him a variable has appeared on the chessboard.”
