Prologue: The Burning Ramparts
The burning castle walls came crumbling down. The blackened spire tilted and sliced through the night sky as red flames surged between piles of collapsed stone. In the distance the army’s war cries still echoed, but the top floor of the Demon King’s castle was eerily quiet.
In the middle of the ruined throne room, only two figures remained. Or rather, only one stood. The other knelt before him. A silver blade had pierced straight through the kneeling man’s chest. The hand gripping the sword’s tip was drenched in blood, and the arm holding the hilt fared no better.
The man wielding the sword was Kang Ihyun. Summoned to another world for the absurd reason of defeating the Demon King and saving the world, he had spent a full twelve years on the battlefield.
Beneath his shattered armor, countless wounds were visible. Fresh injuries layered over old scars, and his left shoulder had nearly lost all function from the final clash.
Before him knelt Ereb. The beginning and end of the war. The calamity that had drenched both humans and demons in blood for decades.
Even as black blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, the Demon King let out a low laugh.
Kang Ihyun offered no reply.
Ereb struggled to raise his head. His fading crimson eyes fixed on Kang Ihyun.
Kang Ihyun quietly closed his eyes. He already knew. He knew why the Demon King had gone mad with rage—how his wife and daughter, staying in a human city for diplomacy, had been murdered by racist nobles. The humans involved had covered it up. No one took responsibility. From that day forward, Ereb had resolved to wipe out the entire human race.
Kang Ihyun had learned the truth years ago. Furious beyond measure, he had joined hands with the imperial family and hunted down every last person connected to the crime. Nobles who fled, mercenaries who hid, officials grown old with time. To the very end, he had killed them all.
With a trembling hand, the Demon King clutched at empty air.
Instead of answering, Kang Ihyun tightened his grip on the hilt.
Ereb laughed through a mouthful of blood.
With his final strength, he straightened his back. Though his body was already dying, in this last moment he carried himself like a king.
Kang Ihyun remained silent for a moment. Beneath the collapsing castle and burning sky, he answered very softly.
Ereb gave a small, rueful chuckle.
Kang Ihyun drove the blade deeper with all his strength.
"Khuk…!"
Black blood spurted from Ereb’s chest. In the end, the Demon King’s body crumbled into dark ash and scattered across the night sky.
At that moment, cheers erupted in the distance. The war was over.
Several weeks later, the imperial palace rang with noise all night long as the victory banquet continued. Bells announcing the end of the war tolled across the continent, and every city and territory celebrated humanity’s triumph. Children scattered flower petals in the streets, surviving soldiers embraced one another and wept, and the families of the fallen mourned quietly before their graves.
The Demon King who had thrown the world into chaos was dead. The hero had returned alive.
The grand banquet hall of the imperial palace shone brilliantly. Beneath golden chandeliers, nobles, generals, priests, and even the Master of the Magic Tower had gathered to celebrate the hero’s victory.
Yet the man at the center of it all, Kang Ihyun, could not hold onto a smile. He knew. He knew that today was his last day in this world.
At dawn, after the banquet had ended, only a handful of people remained by the fountain in the private royal garden where moonlight spilled like silver.
They were the comrades who had walked through hell with Kang Ihyun.
Drake Rochewald spoke first.
True to his bandit roots, the man’s language was rough. Any etiquette he had once learned had been abandoned long ago on the battlefield.
Kang Ihyun gave a small laugh.
Drake was silent for a moment, then laughed with a face that had swallowed every curse he wanted to spit.
He stepped forward and pulled Kang Ihyun into a rough embrace.
"You’re the empire’s greatest knight now. There won’t be any more battles."
His voice had grown hoarse. After a moment he slapped Kang Ihyun’s back hard, then stepped away without another word.
Elio Varen kept up his indifferent act until the very end.
Despite his words, his fingertips were trembling. Kang Ihyun smiled.
Elio adjusted his glasses.
Even so, he eventually handed over a small crystal orb.
"…What am I supposed to use this for?"
Kang Ihyun carefully tucked away the unexpected gift.
Lucian Vert was already drunk. Having apparently sold his clerical robes, he wore only a priest’s uniform with a cloak thrown haphazardly over it. He clutched a wine bottle and wept openly.
"Stop drinking so much or you really will die."
Kang Ihyun burst out laughing.
Lucian clung to him and sobbed loudly.
And finally, after everyone else had left, one person remained.
Adrian IV. Still the crown prince, but soon to become emperor of the empire. The boy who had been fifteen when they first met had grown into a fine young man, fully capable of ruling this vast realm.
Yet right now his face looked utterly devastated.
Kang Ihyun smiled and tapped his shoulder.
Even so, the young man couldn’t lift his head. He only clenched his fists tighter. At last, a very low voice slipped out.
Kang Ihyun paused. Ever since the war against the Demon King had begun in earnest, the boy had always called him that. Though they shared no blood, it was a title spoken with more sincerity than anyone else’s.
Kang Ihyun smiled silently and reached out to ruffle the young man’s hair the way he always had.
Adrian never managed to raise his head. He simply whispered,
After all the farewells were finished, Kang Ihyun stood alone atop the highest tower of the imperial palace. At his waist hung the subspace pocket the emperor had bestowed upon him. Inside were endless amounts of gold, silver, jewels, magic tools, and ancient artifacts. The retirement pay was far more generous than he had expected.
"I was planning to look for a job when I got back, but with this much I could play and eat for the rest of my life."
Kang Ihyun leaned against the railing and gazed down at the city. Twelve years. Long if you called it long, short if you called it short.
He wanted to return. Yet at the same time, part of him wanted to stay. There were people here who had shared their lives with him.
Nevertheless, the modern world still held a life he had left unfinished. The orphanage. Friends he had grown up with. The director’s warm hands. And memories whose names had grown faint but which he refused to forget.
Kang Ihyun closed his eyes and quietly wished. He wished to go back now.
At that moment, a blinding flash of light erupted from the top of the imperial palace. In a world that no longer needed a hero, Kang Ihyun vanished without a trace.
When Kang Ihyun opened his eyes again, the sky reflected in them was so clear he thought for a moment it must be a dream. Blue sky. Drifting clouds. The distant sound of car horns. Cold wind brushed his cheek.
He slowly sat up. Concrete touched his fingertips. An old rooftop. Red rusted iron railings. And faintly visible letters on the wall—Haetsal Orphanage.
He froze where he stood.
The hero who had slain the Demon King and ended the war could not take a single step.
He slowly knelt. With trembling fingers he brushed the concrete floor. For a long time Kang Ihyun could say nothing. Then, at last, a small smile broke across his face—a smile that hovered on the border between laughter and tears.
And very quietly he murmured,