Good Is Evil
Good is evil.
Evil is sin. There is no need to seek a reason for it.
Evil is evil by its very nature, and there exists no justification for it to be anything else.
Yet is its opposite—good—truly justice?
No. Good is nothing but evil.
That is the conclusion I reached. In this era, evil may be sin, but the truth that good is evil has become an immutable law.
In such a world, I ultimately became evil.
In this pitch-black darkness where even the sun was obscured, my end—striving to become a new sun with nothing more than a feeble lantern that could not even serve as a flashlight—was nothing but a pale, wretched evil.
Truly, this is how it turned out.
“I will never live like this again.”
That crude scream was my final, fading breath, yet it also became the cry of my rebirth.
The moment my consciousness slipped away behind closed eyes, when I opened them again, what greeted me was an even deeper darkness, illuminated only by the faint flicker of torches.
It was bewildering.
The fact that I, who had been trudging toward the path of death, could once again draw breath and open my eyes.
One might ask if this was the afterlife, but the scenery around me felt far too vivid for that.
“My lord, please lead Tenebris.”
Lead Tenebris.
Words I could not comprehend echoed in my ears.
What was Tenebris, and why were they asking me to lead it?
More importantly, did they even know who I was?
I rubbed my half-lidded eyes and straightened my back. Only then could I make out who had spoken.
“Anima, Commander of the Third Legion of Ravilis, bows her head before the new Calamity!”
“Fade, Vice Commander of the Third Legion of Ravilis, bows his head before the new Calamity!”
“Intri, Tactician of the Third Legion of Ravilis, bows his head before the new Calamity!”
“We bow!!!”
The sight of these figures in black armor, kneeling on one knee and lowering their heads before me, was truly spectacular. Even without understanding the situation, no one could help but feel a surge of exhilaration at the sight of such heavily armored knights bowing to them.
“⋯⋯.”
That is, unless I had once been Eternal, the S-Class Hero who had fought them on the front lines.
“Calamity! Please lead us!”
What was I supposed to say?
Shouting ‘I’ll crush you all right now!’ and charging in would have been pointless. There were simply too many of them.
Besides, I wasn’t even sure if my previous abilities still worked.
After all, I had already died once.
I had briefly clung to the hope that perhaps I hadn’t actually died, but that was impossible.
In the end, my heart had been pierced by a flame-wreathed fist and turned into a well-done steak.
The memory of closing my eyes while smelling that horrific scent of burning flesh was not easily forgotten.
In the end, I had only one choice.
“Does anyone have clothes I can wear?”
“Bring garments befitting the Calamity at once!”
“Understood!”
The moment I uttered my first words, one of the black-armored knights sprinted away as if it were the most urgent mission in the world. Only then did the reality of the situation truly begin to sink in.
Soon after, he returned with a set of luxurious garments. Several others swarmed around me to help me dress, and once again, my sense of reality vanished.
“⋯⋯.”
“Calamity, how does it feel?”
“⋯It’s to my liking.”
“The Calamity is pleased!!!”
“Waaaaah!!!!!”
When I opened my eyes, my enemies were cheering at a single word from me.
It was only natural that I couldn’t understand what was happening.
**
Once I had properly dressed and begun walking on my own two feet, the woman who had introduced herself as Anima—the Legion Commander—approached me as if everything had finally settled. She guided me to the quarters where I would reside. Outside the enormous room, heavily armored knights belonging to the Third Legion stood guard.
“We are about to have an audience with the Calamity. Not even a single ant is permitted to pass!”
“Understood!!!”
To be honest, it was overwhelming.
I needed to understand the situation before I could do anything, yet here I was in a situation I couldn’t comprehend, with things constantly moving around me.
It felt like jumping into the middle of a game without completing the tutorial, only to be dropped straight into the boss room. I didn’t even know the controls, yet simply mashing the directional keys had somehow led to the boss dying.
“Calamity. Anima, Commander of the Third Legion of Ravilis, requests an audience.”
“⋯Come in.”
The enormous room contained countless other chambers within it.
I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to call it a mere “room,” but since I had never lived anywhere with more than two rooms in my previous life, I couldn’t think of a better word.
Now alone with me, Legion Commander Anima immediately knelt on one knee. She refused to raise her gaze from the floor, as if even meeting my eyes would be far too presumptuous.
“⋯Isn’t conversation usually conducted while looking at each other?”
“As you command!”
“It would be nice if you could remove your helmet as well⋯.”
“As you command!!”
“And maybe lower your voice a little⋯.”
“As… you command.”
Ah, I wanted to run away.
This was insanely burdensome.
What the hell was this?
“Haa… For now, please sit in a chair.”
“I am unworthy. How could I possibly sit at the same level as the Calamity?”
“Just sit down. We need to make eye contact if we’re going to talk, don’t we?”
“I-I am unworthy.”
Only then could I finally face Anima—her.
Hair as black as pitch, eyes even darker.
I couldn’t tell how long her hair was, as it disappeared beneath her armor.
“Your name is Anima, correct?”
“Yes, my lord. I am Anima, Commander of the Third Legion.”
“Whatever. I’m truly sorry, but I don’t understand the current situation at all. Could you please explain it to me?”
“⋯?”
Anima looked at me with wide, round eyes, as if she couldn’t even comprehend the question itself.
Did we not share the same common sense? Who in their right mind would fully grasp a situation after suddenly being summoned like this?
But if she was looking at me with those eyes, perhaps understanding the situation immediately was the normal reaction…
“I’m sorry. I have no memories. I need to understand the situation before I can do anything, don’t I?”
“Ah, I am unworthy. I shall explain at once.”
“That speech pattern… Never mind. Do as you wish.”
“Yes!”
The explanation Anima gave me was as follows.
This place called Tenebris was ruled by a monarch known as the Calamity. That monarch was summoned when a Legion Commander poured all of their mana into the ritual.
The previous monarch had been an entity called Nex Cezar. After he was assassinated under mysterious circumstances, I had been summoned to fill the vacant throne.
However, relations between the legions were not particularly amicable. Therefore, I was to remain here until I could establish myself with the dignity befitting a Calamity. If I were to leave and catch the eye of others, I would face the risk of assassination. I was strictly forbidden from leaving this place.
“I see. Well… I suppose.”
“Calamity, may this humble one offer one more word?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Please, I beg you to speak in a lower register. I fear it may diminish the dignity of a Calamity.”
“⋯Understood.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
It was truly a ridiculous situation.
Eternal, the S-Class Hero who had fought on humanity’s front lines, had become the monarch of the enemy faction.
I had never heard the title Tenebris before, but Ravilis was a name I had heard countless times.
Even the name Nex was familiar.
I was certain that Inferno and I had been the ones to inflict severe injuries on him.
No wonder I hadn’t seen him. So he had been assassinated…
“Calamity, there is one more request I must make.”
“Yes, wha— I mean, what is it?”
“The Legion Commander who performed the summoning ritual for the Calamity has exhausted all of their mana and thus lost the qualifications to remain a commander. Therefore, this unworthy one begs that you allow me to repay my debt by serving at your side.”
“⋯If that is what you wish.”
“Your grace is boundless!”
A sigh escaped me.
Both this woman, whose speech was straight out of a historical drama despite her appearance, and my current situation.
Having been betrayed and killed, only to now find myself as the leader of the enemy camp with no way to retreat—it was even more absurd.
Yet one question remained.
“Do you have a mirror?”
“I will have one prepared immediately.”
After Anima stepped outside and shouted something, several knights in armor brought in a mirror larger than my body. The moment I saw my reflection, the question that had lingered in my mind for so long was finally answered.
A completely different face stared back at me.
Shorter hair. Taller stature. Crimson eyes. And hair now a deep, lustrous black instead of its former color.
The ordinary face I once had was gone. The man in the mirror was strikingly handsome—even I had to admit it.
‘No wonder they didn’t recognize me.’
Most people would know the face of Eternal, the Hero.
In fact, there wasn’t a single Hero whose face wasn’t known to the public. Especially not one of S-Class rank.
Out of the twenty S-Class Heroes in total, being ranked second made it even more so.
But the person in the mirror was utterly unrecognizable.
“Is something uncomfortable, my lord?”
“⋯No, it’s fine. More importantly, I’m hungry. Could I have something to eat?”
“I will prepare it at once.”
Using the meal as an excuse to send Anima out, I finally gained a moment alone to organize my thoughts.
This incomprehensible situation. I, who had been a Hero, had become the leader of a villainous faction. My current location was the heart of their domain—Tenebris.
The choices left to me were simple: accept my position as their leader, or take this so-called second chance and somehow drag them all down to destruction with me.
Ah. Once I thought of it that way, the choice became clear.
“Yes. I will never live like that again.”
In this world where evil is sin and good is evil, I no longer needed to pursue goodness.
Therefore, only one path remained before me.
