The Hero Is Betrayed

The man with pale blue-white hair, his body carved full of deep wounds, opened his eyes in solemn gravity. Across from him, the madman with a jet-black horn snapped to one side smiled, thick madness swimming in his face. They flung themselves at one another, and the end did not take long.

My holy sword ran the black crystal through—the Demon King's very heart. In the same breath, his black spear tore across my abdomen.

"Hah... It's over... Demon King...!"

"Hahahaha!!! Magnificent, Hero...! To think...! To think!! that I would fall to a single human!"

From the shattered black crystal seeped a desolate mist of darkness. From deep in my abdomen welled a thick, dark-red fluid.

"I am not merely a single human. In this blade is the pain the dead received from you. The tears the living had stolen by you. The fury of those who were going to die, all of it aimed at you. What pierced you was the wish of everyone."

"Grand words, I'll grant you. But in the end it means that I, the Demon King, lost to your power as the Hero. I lost to none other than you."

"No. At the very least, I won because my comrades fought beside me. So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you lost to us."

At that resolute declaration, the Demon King burst out laughing as if he had just watched a hit comedy.

"Ahahahahahaha!! Peerless skill, and a sense of humor to match! In all my long life, no one has delighted me as you have! Hero, I acknowledge you as the greatest enemy of my existence! Hahahaha!"

"So close to death, and still spouting nonsense."

"Do you truly believe your comrades were any help in this fight?"

"Not worth hearing another word."

I wrenched the sword from the Demon King's body and shook off what remained of the mist. The smile left his face. Red eyes gleaming, he spoke with grave weight.

"Hero... I lay a curse upon you... Or, if you prefer, think of it as a wager..."

"A curse? What a waste of effort. Just die."

"And the terms of the curse are..."

Thuk.

"Wh... what...?"

I lowered my eyes. A gray-white longsword, dyed dark red, had sprouted from my abdomen.

My mind, turning cold and clear, knew all too well whose sword it was. My heart, burning up with confusion, refused to understand.

"A comrade's... betrayal..."

The Demon King beneath me swept back his white hair, smiling as if this were a pleasure. It lasted only a moment. His strength gave out, and his eyes closed. The sword was pulled from my gut, and I collapsed to the floor as well.

"Elencia... why...?"

A beautiful young man with black hair—the Hero's party's valiant knight, and my most steadfast, dearest friend. Elencia Blake. A thin, unpleasant smile was playing on his lips.

"Incredible! Ruines, I can't believe you really slew the Demon King all by yourself!"

"By myself...?"

Through my blurring sight, there was not a single wound on him. Why...? Elencia had taken the Demon King's blow shield and all to protect me. He had fallen. I had seen it.

"Kgh—! This is wrong... Yuria... help me... I think Elencia's being controlled..."

Blue hair braided prettily. The Hero's party's versatile mage. And my beloved. Areis Yuria. She came to stand at Elencia's right.

"Yuria...?"

Elencia draped his right arm over her shoulders and drew her into his embrace.

"I'm sorry, Ruines. The versions of us who fought beside you... were an illusion I made..."

"H-huh? I didn't catch that. Could you say it again...?"

I had misheard. I had to have. Forcing a smile, I asked once more.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Ah—of course. The hallucination grass carpeting the forest before the Demon King's castle must finally be taking effect. My precious comrades would never do this. It was all a hallucination.

"Ah... ahaha! Felis, could you help me...? I think I've been poisoned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by hallucination grass..."

The only other commoner in the party besides me, and my closest friend. A cute girl whose short brown hair was half her charm. Iris Felis. Even she came to stand at Elencia's left.

"I won't ask you to forgive me..."

Elencia's left arm circled her waist and pulled her in.

"I don't understand what you're saying... haha... Could you give me some antidote grass... Felis...?"

Blood draining away made my head spin. I forced back the tears rising with it.

"......"

"Ahaha... Saintess, please help me... I... I'm losing too much blood..."

The one who had been the party's spiritual pillar, the Saintess chosen by God. A beautiful woman whose long white hair, swept neatly back, seemed to speak of purity itself. Stine Ophelia.

"Ah... as expected of you, Saintess..."

She came to me and knelt, modest and gentle. To someone barely holding his grief in, that softness was too much. Tears spilled down my face—and yet.

"O God... please forgive me..."

She took the holy sword and its scabbard from me, rose, and handed the blade straight to Elencia. As if in thanks, he stroked the Saintess's head.

"Ahahaha...! I'm sorry, all of you... I've fallen into a hallucination and I can't get out... The Demon King... I still have to defeat the Demon King..."

Tears poured from my dying eyes as I looked up in misery, and Elencia, gazing down at me, wore a cold smile.

"How about you admit it now? Ruines."

"Elencia... this is a hallucination, right...? No... if you're being controlled... even now, you could still..."

"Disgusting. A commoner will not address me by name."

"Elencia... my... friend—"

"Ghk—!!"

A heavy blow drove into my abdomen, and my already clouded sight went whiter still.

"The heir of a ducal house, friends with a commoner like you? Don't be absurd. I humored you because you were the Hero, and look how arrogant you've gotten."

"Hero Ruines! There may be a difference in status between us, but I don't care about that! Let's get along from now on!"

"Why did some orphan commoner get to become the Hero..."

"I'm really glad someone like you is the Hero! You could search the whole world and never find a man better suited to it than you!"

"...and because of that, you have no idea how sick I was of watching you strut around calling yourself the Hero."

"Can't just see it and walk on by, you said...? Ha... you really are hopelessly you, aren't you? Fine. Nothing to be done... Let's go, Louis!!"

The past ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠projected itself, sharp and vivid, against the blurred reality in front of me. The gap between them was too wide. The tears I had been forcing down burst free.

"Elencia!! Then what was all of this until now?! What was our journey even for...?!"

"The friendship game felt that good, did it? Good enough to cry?"

A hard plate boot ground down on my head.

"Then as of today, the pleasant little friendship service is terminated. And you'll have to pay the fee for everything you've enjoyed so far, won't you?"

"The fee...?"

"Let me just calculate it... What you owe comes to..."

Elencia laughed brightly, rapture shining in eyes gone mad.

"Everything...?"

"That's right. Your lover, your friend, and the one you respect. And not only them. Your holy sword, your fame, even the honor of having slain the Demon King! I'll be taking all of it."

"What are you saying... Elencia... please... come to your senses... Yes—! Everyone... say something... Elencia isn't in his right mind...!"

"I'm sorry... Ruines... I like Elencia more," the mage said.

"I've got younger siblings at home. He said he'd make me a noble," the rogue said.

"A woman of the Church... must give her whole life to the one to whom she offered her first time..." the Saintess said.

"For reasons like that...? Our whole journey was worth only that much to you...?"

"Calm down, Louis. They're all just offering cute little excuses. All three of them played hard to get a few times, and after we talked with our bodies, they got honest."

The knight who had never lost his bright, steady bearing was gone. In his place stood a madman spilling light, vulgar laughter. And the ones who had been my dearest confidante, my friend, and my lover wore nothing now but the faces of simple females, flushed red.

"Elencia... Elencia...!!!"

Rage I could no longer endure wrung a shout from what little air I had left. Elencia only laughed, as if the sound delighted him beyond measure.

"Yes, that's it. Stop pretending to be good and be honest. Do you know how hard that paltry goodness of yours made things for me? I deserve at least this much in return, don't I?"

At that shameless answer, fury rose hot enough to boil into killing intent.

"I trusted you... I thought of you as my family... If there was something you wanted, I would have brought you anything... If there was something you wished for, I would have given you anything... Elencia... why are you doing this...!"

"I told you, didn't I? Watching a commoner strut around just because he got to be the Hero once was deeply unpleasant. If anything, shouldn't you be grateful I played along this long? That would be the decent thing."

Hah... traitors... traitors... traitors... traitors...!!

"I won't forgive you... never... even if I die... even in the next life... No... now... I'll kill you now...!"

I hauled my dying body upright, staggering, and swung my fist with everything I had left.

"Die...!"

"Wow. That really is a Hero's willpower! But what am I supposed to do... you're so weak?"

He slipped the staggering punch with ease. His kick detonated against me, and I flew, spilling blood.

"The knight who beat the Hero! No—I'm the Hero now, so the Hero who beat the traitor!"

"Traitors... traitors... traitors...!"

"Traitor? The traitor is you, Louis."

"Bullshit...!"

"You're the Hero who gave in to the Demon King's power at the very end and betrayed humanity, aren't you? And I am the great Hero who struck you down and slew the Demon King besides! Well? Isn't the scenario to die for?"

Even reduced to this, I could not believe it. That comrades precious enough for me to give them everything were truly trying to take everything from me. That everything I had believed in had been nothing but lies.

I want revenge... and still, I don't want to believe it... My heart was breaking. Blood and breath were running out, and all that rose in place of a dying life was tears.

"Ah... why... why..."

"Yes. That face suits you best of all."

Elencia laughed, thoroughly pleased.

"Well then, we'll be going. Die lonely, all by yourself! A traitor's end is supposed to be miserable, isn't it? You all agree, right?"

He gathered the three women into his arms as if throwing his arms around their shoulders, and his footsteps carried him out of the room.

"Hkk... hnngh..."

My body cooling, I could only break into sobs as wretched as a child's.

Ah... so this is death. I had achieved everything, only for my comrades to take everything away. Not even a finger or a toe would move. The whole world had dwindled to a blurred shape, and nothing was clear anymore. My world was no longer clear at all.

Even my tears were fading, and I was waiting for nothing but death—when the Demon King's shattered black crystal rose, drifting into the air.

Don't tell me... he isn't dead yet...?

But I don't want this. I resent it. I hate it. A heart that exists for the world's sake—no more of that. Yes... I don't want to see anything. I don't care anymore about being a Hero. I just want to rest somewhere that still holds everything I wanted to protect.

But I want revenge... on the traitors who stole everything I protected. And still, I no longer have anything like the will to wring out one last burst of strength.

I watched, waiting to see what that black crystal meant to do.

The Demon King's voice rang inside my head. I had neither the will nor the strength to answer.

A curse... I'm about to die. What curse could matter...

I'm about to die. What good is it if I can't see what's in front of me?

And what am I supposed to do about that...

So what...

My breath stopped, and the world lost its light.

My world was full of nothing but darkness, and I could see nothing at all.