Chapter 0
Chapter 0
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: Prologue
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There was a great war on the continent.
A war between the alliance of humans, elves, beastkin, and others against the demons.
The collective will of the Hero and countless lives clashed with the Demon King's army, which sought to invade the continent.
"Haa... haa..."
I panted roughly as I surveyed my surroundings. Red pools lay splattered across the ground, and flames engulfed the battlefield.
There had been battles large and small.
There had been countless sacrifices.
There had been soul-rending sorrow.
The continent had become a sea of fire at the hands of the demons intent on devouring it.
It had nearly fallen completely at one point, but fierce resistance had brought us this far.
And now, we had reached the final stretch.
Right before my eyes, the Demon King and the Hero's party were locked in their final battle.
The real... last one.
If the Demon King was slain, it would be victory for the Continental Alliance.
...Victory.
What a wonderful word, but it brought me no joy.
"You rotten cripple! Hurry up and help me—!"
From afar came the bellow of my damned superior, ordering me into the fray.
Why me?
"Kaaak—!!"
Fuck, why me?
Good, he's dead.
While the Demon King battled the Hero, the Empire's remaining forces fought the demons' remnants. I was just a lowly soldier in the Empire. By all rights, I should have been fighting zealously for the greater good, but...
"Haa... what a shitshow."
Now, everything filled me with loathing.
This wretched life had been a nonstop chain of hardships and pain.
Even when everyone despised me, I fought for the Empire. If only I'd been the sole sufferer, it might have been bearable. But the world was even more twisted than that.
The higher-ups bickered endlessly, and there was no harmony between races.
On top of that, the Hero's party was too busy stabbing each other in the back.
Because of it all, my precious family had died.
Innumerable people had died.
We'd come this far to the final showdown with the Demon King, but there had been so many better ways.
"Khaak!"
The demon that killed my superior lunged at me next. Though I didn't want to die just yet, I raised my sword and fought it off. After taking a few hits and thrusting my blade, I finally brought it down.
...In my prime, I could have taken a few more of these demons, but after nonstop fighting, I was nearing my limit. I staggered and dropped to one knee.
I stared at the blood pooling around my feet. My hideous burn scars and hunched back came into view. I didn't even want to move anymore. Completely spent, I let myself collapse onto the ground.
When had it started?
This ruined life of mine.
From becoming a mere foot soldier...?
When I got burned in a fire due to someone's scheme?
When I became a hunchback after getting crushed by falling rocks while helping others?
When they mocked me as grotesque?
When the Hero's party beat me senseless for no good reason?
When my family was slaughtered?
Ah—.
"Lucia—."
The woman I loved, who had fallen in battle just days ago, rose in my mind.
This noble soul who had loved a worthless man like me.
Thanks to her, I'd held myself together and endured until now.
But with Lucia gone, nothing remained for me.
Even if peace came to this world, I'd be alone.
A life of pathetic ridicule.
A life of utter emptiness.
"Kaaaa—! Hero—!! I salute your strength! But your power has run dry!!!"
...It seemed peace wouldn't come to this world after all.
"I'll end it here!"
Damn these bastards.
If you were going to lose anyway, what the hell had you been doing all this time?
A dull thud sounded beside me. Glancing over, I saw the Hero collapsed in tatters. She didn't so much as twitch. What an anticlimactic death.
"Kuh... heh heh heh."
The Demon King approached to confirm the Hero's death, but after enduring pains rivaling death countless times, it didn't scare me. If my loved ones were still alive, maybe it would have, but now, dying seemed fine.
"Kraaaaa!!"
Confirming the Hero's death, the Demon King let out a mighty roar. Cheers rose from the demons as their morale surged. If only the Demon King died, the rest would lose their focal point and could be dealt with naturally.
And with the Hero dead, the continent was finished—or so the logic went. The world was done for.
"Cough—hack."
The Demon King beside me swayed but barely stayed upright, propping himself with his hands on the ground. He seemed to be at his limit too.
Damn Hero.
If you'd just pushed a little harder, you'd have won by a hair.
Wait.
Come to think of it, the Hero was a bitch, but... wasn't this Demon King bastard the root of all evil?
"Cough, cough."
Originally, Demon King or Hero, I didn't care—I just wanted to meet my end on this battlefield.
But damn it, thoughts of my beloved Lucia wouldn't leave me.
Right before she died, Lucia had said this:
Don't hate this world too much.
Fight on for the world's sake until the end.
She'd lived a painful life herself, yet thought of others to the last.
...That's why I loved her.
"Cough—hack."
The Demon King beside me vomited black blood as he tried to steady himself.
His back turned to me.
I'd just been lying there powerlessly, but this was a golden opportunity.
If he were in top shape, he'd have noticed I was alive, but after confirming the Hero's death up close, he was completely defenseless.
Could I stab him?
Seriously.
If I stopped pretending to be dead and thrust the sword in my hand into his heart from behind...?
But what if it failed?
What if I stabbed and he didn't die?
No.
Survival was hopeless anyway—might as well go for it.
By the time my thoughts reached that point, I was already rising—.
"Guh—ack?"
I'd plunged my sword into the Demon King's heart.
"Kraaaaaak—! How dare you—!"
As expected, he didn't die. I snatched the sword from the dead Hero's hand beside me and jammed it into his heart again.
"Kraaaaaaaa!!!!"
White light burst from every corner of the Demon King's body. The holy power of the sacred sword had detonated inside him, no doubt.
"To fall to a... fly like you... I won't!!!!!"
Like a last resort, a gem lay in the Demon King's hand. It brimmed with immense mana at a glance. He was clearly about to do something with it.
"Give it here!"
Without thinking, fearless, I reached for the gem. A intense wave swept through me the moment I touched it, but my instincts told me:
As long as I kept him from using this gem, the Demon King would die.
"Kraaaaaak!!! Let go—!!!!"
To thwart him, I poured every last ounce of strength into it. Strange sensations flashed through me. I focused all my mind on the gem.
The gem grew scorching hot, as if about to explode, and began glowing red.
And then—.
A brilliant light poured from the gem—.
...
Everything went black.
It felt like I'd been trapped in the pitch-black void beyond the sky, utterly silent and dark.
Ah, am I dead...? Just as the thought crossed my mind...
A grating noise assaulted my ears.
"Get up—! Do you know what time it is? Still sleeping?"
A familiar roar echoed, one I hadn't heard in ages.
I opened my eyes...
"Daron! What are you doing without rising?"
My old superior, who had surely been bisected by a demon long ago, bellowed at the top of his lungs.