The False Heir's Lie
Hayes gazed at the man before her. She could feel her companion's mana emanating from him. Black hair, black eyes. A confident smile played endlessly on his lips.
His mana. The same color as his. A similar smile, but with one crucial difference. He had always been smiling. Yet his eyes had always looked so precarious, as if they might shatter at any moment. As if he couldn't hold on unless he forced that smile. Waves of pain and hardship had relentlessly battered him. But even in despair, he never gave up. That smile, which seemed on the verge of vanishing, never did.
"Dark Lord, are you alright?"
"..."
Hayes recalled the events from moments ago. She remembered the first greeting from the man the Death Knight had brought.
'Pleased to meet you. My name is Derek. I am the successor of the hero Evan.'
The man claiming to be his successor was smiling. A self-assured smile. A pure smile untouched by sorrow or pain—it showed only the experiences of unadulterated success.
"Haha, I never expected the Dark Lord to be so quiet... It's different from what I was told, but I rather like it that way."
"...Told?"
Hayes, who had maintained silence, finally spoke. Derek, the supposed successor of Evan, laughed.
"You've finally reacted. Yes. According to the previous hero's knowledge, the Dark Lord was said to always gaze at him with those beautiful eyes."
The previous hero's knowledge.
He had left us for 50 years to teach a new successor. Were we, a mass of defective products, simply not up to his standards in the end? The fact that he had truly abandoned us. Emotions she had denied and buried deep within began to resurface. She held back the tears welling up. She had to confirm it. An unbearable sadness surged at the thought of being abandoned, but there was also a flicker of hope.
"...Where is he now?"
Even in the world of Adenia, or the realm of the dead, she couldn't sense the soul she so desperately longed to see. This man claiming to be his successor surely knew something. At the very least, she wanted to see his face again—the smile that had saved her, the starry sky they had watched together.
Derek shook his head at Hayes' question.
"The previous hero simply left behind a single book and vanished somewhere. I tried my best to find him, but even his shadow was hard to catch."
Hayes bowed her head. Her disheveled white hair cascaded down like a waterfall. She killed the emotion of sorrow. If she didn't, she felt she might collapse right then and there.
"...Why did you come to find me?"
Derek responded to Hayes' cracked voice.
"I want to borrow your power."
"...Power?"
"Yes. According to the previous hero's knowledge, the Dark Lord possesses the Death Eye. I was wondering if you could lend me even a fraction of that power of death."
Hayes peered at Derek through the strands of her fallen white hair. His supposed successor was smiling.
"...Why?"
If he truly was his successor, he shouldn't need her power. Moreover, even if her Death Eye was special, the world now should be at peace. The Abyss that mocked fate had long since fallen. Had some new threat emerged in Adenia after 50 years? Hayes, secluded in the Shadow Forest managing the realm of the dead, had been out of touch with the outside world.
In the knowledge Hayes possessed, the only things that could be called a danger to the world were, in a way, herself and the other defective products. Defective products with twisted strength. There was no one left to stop them now. Could other defective products, drowned in sorrow and rage, be destroying the world? Hayes denied it with a shake of her head. There was no fool who would destroy the world filled with memories of him, the world they had earned on their journey together.
But if one of the defective products couldn't contain their sorrow and rage and lashed out at the world instead of themselves... She would have to judge them personally.
Swoooosh—!
Hayes' shadow stretched, and a massive black scythe rose from it.
"...The Scythe of Doom."
Derek swallowed hard. His gaze fixed on the death mana gathered on the scythe. The Scythe of Doom was one of the divine weapons Evan had given Hayes. It was the embodiment of death that annihilated anything touching its blade. With this scythe from him, Hayes had once reaped the deaths of the Abyss.
The death mana rising from the Scythe of Doom caressed her. Naturally, memories of the first time he handed her the scythe flooded her mind. Back then, she couldn't even swing it properly and nearly toppled over from losing balance. He had caught her waist and laughed so hard it seemed the heavens might split. She had been embarrassed by his laughter, but more than that, her mind had gone blank from the direct contact of their bodies. She remembered her entire body heating up like a fireball from that first exchange of body heat.
"...Wow. The world seems more beautiful now that the Dark Lord is smiling."
Hayes' consciousness returned to reality. She raised her hand to her mouth. As Derek said, she was smiling. Even knowing he had left and abandoned her.
Just recalling memories with him made her body and soul rejoice. She missed him. She longed for him so intensely it ached. She wished he would curse her directly. At least then she could see his face.
"Ahem... To answer the Dark Lord's recent question. Even if I am his successor, I am not that strong. However—"
Derek cleared his throat and paused. The smile vanished from his face.
"However. The world is still filled with suffering. From small places like Rimhold to the empire beyond. As the hero's successor, I bear the duty to save the world."
Derek bowed his head.
"Dark Lord. Please lend me your power. For the sake of the world."
"..."
Hayes fell silent at the words of Evan's supposed successor, Derek. She pondered deeply.
"...Before that, did he leave any message?"
Derek smiled in relief at Hayes' potentially positive response.
"Thank you so much, Dark Lord. The previous hero did leave one message before departing. He said to tell you he loves you, even if he couldn't visit due to circumstances."
At Derek's words, Hayes lifted her head. The waterfall of white hair parted, revealing her face.
"Ah... So beauti—"
Schwick—!
Thud... Roll...
Derek's head rolled across the table.
"You're not his successor. You lied to me."
Hayes' shadow spread wide. From the rippling surface beneath, the Death Knight emerged.
- I'm sorry, my lord. I accept any punishment.
The apologetic Death Knight knelt on one knee. Schick—! The shadow surged, piercing and devouring one of the Death Knight's arms.
- Thank you, my lord.
Hayes didn't even glance at the Death Knight who had lost an arm. She simply pointed at Derek's head with her finger.
Squeeze—!
The Death Knight lifted Derek's head with his remaining arm.
"How...!? Where did I slip up...? More importantly, my head's cut off and I'm still alive...?"
Derek's head was still alive. It panicked at the fact that death hadn't come.
Bam—!
The Death Knight slammed Derek's head onto the table. Teeth scattered into the air from the impact.
- Do not speak of life before the King of Death. The death of all beings is decided by my lord.
"Guh... Uh... Ah..."
The Death Knight lifted Derek's head again. Hayes met Derek's eyes.
"My companion... He... Evan... never speaks of love. Never."
She had fallen for the smile that saved her. But his priority was never the defective products—it was the world. Even as she and the other defectives endlessly craved his love, he had smiled and pushed them away. He never said sweet words. He never whispered of love. He only made formal promises to their near-desperate pleas. In a way, she and the other defectives might have been mere tools for that purpose. Facing that truth she had denied and endured, the sorrow she had held back poured out.
Tears flowed from Hayes' eyes.
"Look into my eyes. Show me your soul."
Hayes looked into Derek's eyes with her tear-streaked Death Eye. Seeing beyond the flesh to the soul. It wasn't a pure human soul. Multiple entities were mixed within.
Deeper. At Hayes' will, the Death Eye began scanning the memories of Derek's soul.
Derek Cornen. Eldest son of Rimhold's lord, Count Amon Cornen. His father's love went entirely to his younger brother. Even the position of heir. The day his father collapsed. A mage came. That mage revealed all the secrets his father had hidden. The secret of his birth. Rimhold's past. The elves of the Great Forest. And tales of the hero Evan.
The mage who revealed the secrets handed him a pulsating chunk of flesh and asked if he wanted revenge. He gladly took the mage's hand. He devoured the flesh, gained power, and consumed the item the hero had left for his father. Yet it still wasn't enough power. Seizing the lordship of Rimhold would be fortune enough. As he agonized, the mage proposed a plan: to deceive and devour the Dark Lord. It seemed absurd, but the mage persuaded him it would work precisely because of that.
"Guh... Aaaah! St... Stop... My head... My memories...!"
Derek's head wailed in agony. The pain of his soul being forcibly scanned and memories rifled through.
Hayes closed her eyes.
"Guh... Ah... Uh..."
Turning from Derek's groaning head, Hayes rose. She nudged the shadow with her foot. Beyond the rippling waves, the faint silhouette of Rimhold's castle appeared.
A small spark of anger ignited in Hayes' heart. As the ripples of emotion spread, her mana trembled.
Shwaaak—!
From the shadows, beings of death surged forth. Lich, Dullahan, Banshee Queen, Skeleton King. Countless deaths rose.
The death beings, empowered by Hayes' mana, were each a threat to the world. Their eyes gleamed as they responded to their master's emotions.
- My lord. Give us your command. We will punish these arrogant humans at once.
The Death Knight knelt at the forefront before Hayes. The death beings awaited only her word.
"Quiet."
Paang—!
The forms of the death beings tore apart and scattered.
- I'm sorry, my lord. I only—
At the Death Knight's words, Hayes raised her scythe.
"I didn't take you in. I didn't want you. Don't delude yourselves into thinking you serve me just because my eyes drew you here."
Even though she was grateful for the Death Eye her cursed birth gave her, allowing her to be with him. Hayes loathed the death beings. It was only natural. In the past, when they struggled against the Abyss, these things had claimed to lend power but ended up wounding her companion. Watching the precious man be tainted by death was more horrific than anything. To the point she couldn't forgive herself.
She wanted to erase these existences right then. Yet he had smiled, saying it was power against the Abyss, and stopped her.
- ...I'm sorry.
"Shut up."
Hayes sent the death beings back. She couldn't let these repulsive things roam the world they had saved together. But she had no intention of letting the humans who deceived her go unpunished either.
Hayes vanished into the shadow beyond.
Count Amon Cornen's first wife had spent the night in worry. Her son had changed beyond recognition after her husband collapsed. He had awakened his talents and earned the love of Rimhold's citizens through prestige. Now most of the retainers supported her son, but the first wife remained anxious. Even if her husband awoke, the heir position was unlikely to go to her son.
Her proud son had said, without her asking, that he was still lacking. He had a plan, he said, and vanished somewhere. She worried about what he was doing.
"Don't worry, madam. Young Master Derek will return soon."
"Even so, nanny... You know our son is delicate. If that child even skips a meal— Ah—"
Overcome with worry for her son, the first wife clutched her head and nearly collapsed.
"Madam—! It's alright. If he doesn't return by dinner, the knight order will search for him."
The first wife rose with the nanny's support. The retainers' reassurances somewhat calmed her heart.
Clank—!
The door suddenly opened. No one was beyond it.
"Why did the door... Nanny, did you say we had a guest today?"
"No, madam... There was nothing scheduled. Let me check again."
"Please do."
The nanny headed toward the door.
Thud...
"Kyaaahhh—! Young master!"
"Gasp! Who... who would do such a thing!!"
At the screams of the retainers and nanny, the first wife sitting in her chair shot to her feet. Hurrying to the open door, what lay there was...
Her proud son's horribly mangled head.
"My son... No... Not my son...! This is a nightmare... A dream...!"
Derek's eyes rolled back. Upon seeing the first wife, his eyes widened.
"Guh... Mo... ther... Ru... n..."
The first wife rushed to her still-living son's head and embraced it.
"Who... Who the hell did this to you... Who!! This mother will fix you somehow!! And I will tear apart whoever did this to you... I swear...!!"
At her son's hideous state, the first wife wailed and spat venomous hatred.
"Son...! Who! Who did this to you...!"
The lights beyond the door began extinguishing one by one. As light diminished, darkness took its place.
"...Madam... Get back!"
A retainer drew his sword and pointed it at the open door. In that brief moment, all light beyond the door vanished, leaving only pitch-black darkness.
Swoooosh—!
The retainers in the room broke into cold sweats as shadows crept over the doorframe. The shadows spread. The lord's castle was instantly engulfed in darkness.
"Mo... ther... Ru... n. It's... com... ing..."
"Son... What’s coming? Tell your mother the culprit. Hurry..."
"...Dea... th..."
"Dea... th? Who exactly...?"
The wife was puzzled by her son's words. She couldn't tell who he meant.
"Death."
At the unfamiliar voice, everyone's eyes in the room turned to one spot. Amid the darkness stood a figure of pure white.
"You... Impossible—!"
The white reaper swung her scythe.