IF. Bad End. Slayer
My mouth wouldn't open.
Return to the original world, back in front of the screen, making all of this never have happened. ……Even Adelaide's death?
If her death—someone who tried to save me even at the cost of her own life—could be undone by some petty wish, that would cheapen it.
To invalidate her resolve with a single whim from someone else? That would be blasphemy.
Adelaide had been preparing for days. She laid out pieces of her life one by one, folded them away, sorted them. She named her subordinates, explained why she became a knight, told stories of her wooden sword.
It was all a farewell.
To reverse that farewell with one wish would be a betrayal.
I clamped my mouth shut.
The instinct that I just needed to make the wish vanished. The chance had slipped away. I was certain it would never come again, and there was no regret.
I let go of Adelaide's hand. Slowly.
I stood.
I gripped the hilt of the holy sword embedded in her chest with both hands. With one firm pull, I felt resistance. Pfshk—the blade slid free. It was drenched in blood. Adelaide's blood.
I stared at it for a long time.
She'd said this sword was meant to protect people. The hero's sword. The sword of light. It was painted on the walls of the ruined cathedral, etched behind the Istius temple.
She'd said it repeated. The Demon King and the hero always fought, and one always died.
The blood on the blade began to dry.
I sheathed Zenon's dagger at my waist with my left hand. The holy sword in my right. Perfect balance. It wasn't too heavy for me to wield, improbably enough.
I turned my head for one last look at Adelaide. Blood soaked her clothes darker from the wound where the sword had been. Even her stopped heart still had blood left to spill.
……Why did you die?
Because I couldn't use my shadows? Because the pursuit squad was coming? Because you couldn't fend off attackers from both sides alone?
So if you vanished, the chase would end? If you died, I'd live?
Yeah, you're right. The calculations probably checked out. Adelaide was rarely wrong.
But me. But what about me?
How the fuck am I supposed to live now?
My grip tightened on the holy sword.
Adelaide died because of the pursuit squad. Because of the demons. Because of this entire world that created the hero-versus-Demon-King setup.
I know they're not NPCs. I know they're people.
……So what?
Before, I killed them because they were NPCs. Because they weren't real, so it didn't matter.
This time is different. I'll kill them knowing they're people.
Everything that breathes in this world.
Something boiled inside my chest. The throne's side effect, she'd called it. Emotions amplified to the point of madness.
Fine. I'll indulge it.
The shadows reacted, swallowing Adelaide. What had been limited to a single pace now spread along the holy sword's blade, black flames flickering along the edge, burning away the blood.
Shadows spread in a circle from my feet, wrapping tree trunks, climbing rocks, sliding over grass. Soon, the entire forest darkened.
"Wait for me, Adel. I'll come find you soon."
And I turned. Left the forest.
I ran into the pursuit squad right after crossing the forest boundary into the open plain. Four knights. One mage. And the man standing at the center.
"Rorian."
Just calling his name made them all draw their swords.
Rorian stepped forward.
"……That sword."
"It's the hero's sword."
"Where is the hero?!"
"Dead."
I said it curtly. Rorian's face twisted.
"Lies—"
"Not lies."
I raised the holy sword. The bloodstains on the blade gleamed darkly in the torchlight.
"This is Adelaide's blood. I stabbed her myself."
"……You don't mean—"
"I didn't kill her. She took her own life. Suicide."
Rorian's eyes wavered. The knights behind him stirred. The mage hesitated, hands gathering light.
"……Why."
"To save me."
"……That's insane."
"Yeah. Tell me about it."
I took a step forward. Shadows spread from my feet, blackening the grass across the plain.
"Go back, and I'll let you live."
"……What?"
"Only saying it once. Because you cared for Adel."
"What are you—"
"Go back."
Rorian's sword hand trembled. One knight behind him backed away, mouth opening.
"That's…… shadows. The Demon King's—"
"Demon King, yeah. You knew that and came anyway?"
Another knight retreated at my response. Rorian didn't budge. He gritted his teeth and raised his sword.
"If the hero saved you, that was her will. But that doesn't mean I can stop."
"……Yeah?"
"Letting the Demon King go means more deaths. The hero wouldn't have wanted that."
"Probably not."
Adelaide wouldn't have. I know that. She died to save me, hoping I'd stop killing.
But Adelaide's gone now. So it doesn't matter.
"……Sorry. You had a name, after all."
The shadows lashed out. Rorian tried to block with his sword, but they climbed the blade to his wrist, then yanked his whole body in.
The knights charged late. The mage fired light bullets.
I raised the holy sword. The light hit the blade—but the shadows devoured it. The hero's sword in the Demon King's hand, light crushed by darkness.
One step. A knight crumpled in his armor.
Two steps. The mage's scream cut off.
Three steps. Rorian spat blood and dropped to his knees.
"……The hero…… wouldn't want……this……."
"I know."
I'm killing them knowing that.
Shadows blanketed the plain. Torches snuffed out, lights fading, one by one.
Rorian's eyes went dark. I walked over them. Kept walking.
There was a village. Nighttime, so light leaked from windows, and a dog-like beast barked.
A woman stood by the well, probably fetching water. Her face hardened when she saw me—the holy sword, silver hair, trailing shadows.
Her mouth opened to say something, but it ended before sound came.
After the shadows engulfed the village, nothing remained.
It'd be a lie to say I felt nothing. Screams echoed, doors splintered, someone called a child's name. I heard it all but didn't stop walking.
In the second village, an old man stood at his door—guarding it, or frozen mid-flight.
Third. Fourth.
I didn't know where I was headed. Just east, that much I knew.
People screamed. I knew they had names, families, pasts, things they didn't want to lose.
If Adelaide were alive, she'd have stopped me. Golden light melting shadows, holy sword barring my path, those cold eyes staring me down.
But she's gone now.
As the Land of Darkness neared, I sensed a presence ahead. Familiar mana.
Sahadin emerged from the trees. Same coat, pale face, kneeling posture. Unchanged.
"Your Majesty."
His voice trembled—not with fear, but relief.
"You've returned."
"No."
"……Your Majesty?"
"I didn't return, Sahadin."
"What do you—"
"Sahadin."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"……Sorry."
Sahadin's expression hardened. I don't know how many times I'd said it. First in the cave, a few more times before Adelaide.
But this was the first for him. And the last.
I raised the holy sword. Sahadin didn't dodge. He stayed kneeling, head bowed.
Is this how a seven-hundred-year life ends?
"Your Majesty. One question."
"……What."
"What of the hero."
It took time to answer. The words stuck in my throat.
"Dead."
"……I see."
"My fault."
Sahadin looked up. Understanding dawned in his ancient eyes.
"……Understood, Your Majesty."
That was his last.
Shadows embraced Sahadin. Silently. Without resistance.
When the loyal demon of seven centuries fell, I stood there for a long time.
He called me "Your Majesty" to the end. His do-nothing master.
I walked. For days.
Nothing remained in my wake. Villages, people, demons—all gone. Only traces of what the shadows devoured, and I walked over them.
The shadows coiled around the holy sword's blade didn't fade. The hilt was blackened too.
Eventually, I stopped. It took time to recognize it.
A weed-choked empty lot, charred stumps, a hole that might've been a well.
Ethan's village. My hometown, burned by my hand—the site of my first massacre.
Where I shattered the mirror, first wielded shadows, killed Ethan, slew the knight captain.
Everything started here. In this village, I made the rule: NPCs. Not people. Okay to kill.
I leaned against one stump. No more places to go. No more to kill.
A few survivors in unknown corners, sure—but it'd take ages for them to rebuild civilization.
I set the dagger aside. Holy sword in my right—the same one Adelaide plunged into her own chest.
I reversed my grip. The tip pointed at my chest.
"Adel."
No answer. She wasn't here.
"You tried to save me with this."
When Adelaide held it, did golden light blaze? Did it shine at the end? I don't know. I was asleep.
"Sorry. Can't find a reason to keep living."
When I asked why she saved me, Adelaide said she didn't know. Just felt like I couldn't die.
I felt the same. Adelaide couldn't be gone.
But it happened anyway.
Wind blew. Silver hair fell over my shoulder, same position, same angle as hers.
"……Wanted to see the sea."
I pushed. The blade pierced flesh. The world darkened.
Just before my eyes closed, I saw Adelaide's hand. Offering the flower she'd picked.
The stem too weak, crumbling between her fingers—that yellow bloom.
I thought just accepting it mattered……but I couldn't even protect that.
The shadows stilled.
No one remained on the charred ground.
The holy sword lost its light. The silver-haired girl, her breath.
Only the wind passed once.