The Fall

One day, the summons came.

"I must ask you to make a journey to Normal Town," the elderly, white-haired Pope requested solemnly. "It appears the entire holy knight garrison stationed there has vanished without a trace."

"Normal Town?" I frowned. "Isn't that completely in the rear?"

The Demon King's army was stationed in the far north, while Normal Town lay deep in the southern reaches of the kingdom.

"Precisely. Which makes the situation all the more troubling. We have received no intelligence suggesting any demonic movement in that direction..."

"Understood," I nodded. "I'll coordinate the schedule with Martha, Jamila, and Yuria."

"No, no," the Pope interjected, raising a placating hand. "This is an extraordinarily urgent matter, and I am asking this of you personally, Hero."

"Excuse me?"

"Saintess Martha has duties of her own to attend to, and the others represent the kingdom's core military strength. In your absence, they must remain behind to defend the Royal Capital."

Fair enough. But I had an ironclad rule: I never went anywhere alone. From the very moment I was summoned, the Demon King had painted a target on my back. Having an escort was non-negotiable.

"I'm not going anywhere by myself," I stated firmly.

"Do not fret. Lord Morrich shall escort you alongside his cavalry unit."

"Lord Morrich? Well, then I've got nothing to worry about!"

Lord Morrich was an elite cavalry captain of the kingdom, as well as the husband of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠our silver-haired, sultry rogue, Nina. If that reliable older brother figure had my back, I had zero concerns. Granted, he was so devoted to his wife that having to listen to him brag about her nonstop during travels was pure torture, but over the years since I was summoned—back when I was just a clueless, reckless kid—he had pulled me out of the fire on the battlefield time and time again. He was one of the few men in this world I genuinely looked up to as an older brother.

And so, I rendezvoused with Lord Morrich and we set off. Yet as we rode, something felt off.

"Big bro? What's with that look on your face?"

"Ah... it's nothing. Nothing at all."

Dark circles hung heavy beneath his sunken eyes, and his gaunt face looked completely hollow. What was his deal? He looked like a man who hadn't slept in days.

"Let's just keep moving," he muttered.

We spurred our horses southward toward Normal Town. Before long, raindrops began to patter down around us, swelling into a steady downpour.

"We'll camp here for the night," Lord Morrich called out, steering us toward a massive cavern nearby.

"Whoa, I had no idea there was a Natural Cave this huge out here. That's pretty wild," I remarked, taking in the cavernous expanse.

While the cavalrymen lit campfires and pitched tents near the entrance, I walked deeper into the cave alongside Lord Morrich to scout the interior.

Lord Morrich remained eerily silent. What was wrong with him?

"Big bro, has something been going on lately? Why do you look so miserable?"

"...Eric."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"...I'm sorry!"

"Wait, what—?!"

Wuuuung—!

From every shadowed alcove of the cave's depths, intricately etched magic circles flared into brilliant, blinding luminescence.

"What is this...?!"

"I had no other choice! I have to save Nina! Forgive me, please—!"

"You've got to be fucking kidding me...!"

A trap!

A perilous warning flashed across my status screen. I countered immediately!

"Dispel Magic!"

I had been played. This massive spell was tailored specifically to ensnare me—an ambush meticulously prepared over days! The entire cavern had been consecrated as a massive catalyst for forced spatial teleportation!

"You son of a—!"

Fwhoosh—!

Before the curse could even leave my lips, reality twisted, and I was ripped away into an abyss of endless, empty darkness.

"Where the hell..."

"Welcome to my world."

"?!"

Parting the shadows before me stepped a demon of towering stature, his flesh a deep, chilling azure. Curled ram-like horns sprouted from his brow, his eyes glowing with crimson irises framed by pitch-black sclera, while massive bat wings folded behind his back.

It was him...!

"The Demon King...!"

"I have missed you, Hero," he mocked, a cruel smile touching his lips. "Half my legions have been wiped out by your hand. You even slew two of my Four Heavenly Kings."

Barely listening to his banter, I darted my gaze across the surrounding void. To my astonishment, he was completely alone.

"You came here by yourself?"

"Naturally."

"Naturally?"

"Indeed. This is my innate barrier—a domain that permits entry to only a single opponent alongside myself."

What kind of idiot was this suspiciously helpful? If he had jumped me with a horde of minions, I would have been in serious trouble. But this? This was a godsend. In a one-on-one duel, I was confident I could take down even the Demon King!

"That was your fatal mistake."

"You're dead meat."

Yet in the end, the one dying was me.

"Cough... gasp...!"

Thud!

"Wh-what the hell...?"

At first, I had undoubtedly killed him. My holy sword had run straight through his heart! The visceral sensation vibrating through my palms was unmistakable. I had won—there was no question about it!

Yet right as certainty washed over me...

My physical condition, along with the Demon King's, instantly snapped back to the exact moment we first met.

"What is this? Dormammu?"

Fine by me.

"I'll just slaughter you as many times as it takes."

Suspecting it might be an illusion, I cast Dispel Magic, but there was no reaction. Fine. There was no way this loop could go on infinitely. I'd just keep butchering him until he stayed dead!

Had I killed him ten times by now?

Just as I began to dispatch him with practiced ease while pondering a way to shatter the barrier, the Demon King let out a derisive rumble.

"You are strong indeed, Hero. Stronger than any creature I have ever encountered."

I assumed his dark chuckles were mere bravado, but his expression remained unnervingly composed.

"Luring you here was truly the right decision. Eliminating you first was the only course of action."

"What kind of gibberish are you spouting now?" I snapped, sick of his voice.

"With you gone, humanity's forces will crumble into utter disarray. From that plump-breasted Saintess to that muscular she-warrior... I shall turn every last one of them into my personal fucktoys."

"Shut your filthy mouth, or I'll slice out your tongue first!"

The Demon King merely offered a leisurely grin. "Heheh. I wonder if you truly can?"

"What?"

"It is time I fought in earnest. Brace yourself."

Thwack—!

"?!"

This bastard...!

I had believed without a doubt that I was winning effortlessly. Yet incrementally, the bout had grown tight; gradually, I was pushed back, until his razor-sharp claws plunged deep into my chest, ending my life.

Goddamn it! At this rate, I was going to—!

Ludicrously enough, even when I died, this space reset everything without a hitch.

"What the hell are you playing at?!" I demanded. I had lost, so why bother rewinding time?

"Heheh. My objective is to make you submit. I shall slaughter you again and again until your spirit completely shatters."

"You think something like this will break me?!"

"It will. I shall make sure of it."

A hundred deaths. Then two hundred.

"Why... why the hell are you doing this?!"

"Because it is amusing."

He was overflowing with composure. But worse than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that... he was growing stronger! He was absurdly powerful to begin with, but locked in a life-or-death struggle against me, his prowess escalated in real time! It was as if he were absorbing every facet of my combat—my patterns, my instincts, my spells, my holy arts, my techniques!

How could a monster who was already the apex boss be a growth-type character?!

"Don't fuck with me...!"

I tried everything to rupture the barrier and flee, but my efforts were futile.

Three hundred deaths... four hundred deaths...

No matter how hard I fought, no matter how many times I clashed with him, victory was slipping completely beyond my grasp!

"I will never... give up...!"

"Aaaaaaaagh!"

Upon my five-hundredth demise, the Demon King stripped off his armor. Every single piece of it, down to the bare skin.

"You mustn't break so soon. It seems you require a little incentive."

Like a depraved pervert... he fought while sporting an erection as thick and long as an adult man's forearm!

"Fail to defeat me, and your women will be ravished by this cock of mine."

"You sick, twisted bastard! I'll hack that dick off first!"

Desperation drove me, terrorized by the thought of my companions being defiled, but my frantic resistance was meaningless.

Crack!

"Gah...!"

Crash!

Once more... I died...

"Surrender now," he chuckled darkly.

"Shut... up...!"

"Fascinating. Hero, allow me to share something delightful with you."

Standing completely in the buff, the Demon King pointed a claw toward his own heart.

"In truth, I have exhausted all ten of my extra lives. Slay me just once more, and you shall walk free from this place. And I shall perish."

"Is that so?"

You made a grave mistake, demon. A sudden rush of renewed courage surged into my veins!

I fought, fought, and fought again.

I died, died, and died again.

Six hundred times. Seven hundred times...

Only upon the nine-hundred and ninety-ninth loop did I finally push the Demon King to the brink of defeat.

Just a little more... just one more strike...!

"Die!"

Schluck!

The holy sword cleaved clean through his chest, impaling his heart.

I had finally won!

...Or so I believed, for a fleeting instant.

"And now, it is time to unveil my true power."

"?!"

Flash!

Massive bat wings unfurled, and the demon's azure flesh shifted into a menacing, dark-crimson hue!

"Gah?!"

A ferocious shockwave blasted me off my feet, sending me tumbling across the abyss.

What... what was happening?!

"Ah... ahh...!"

Despair, absolute and crushing, seized my soul.

Clatter.

My fingers went limp, and the holy sword slipped from my grasp, clattering uselessly onto the void floor.

"What is the matter, Hero? We have only clashed a mere thousand times."

"Ha... haha... hahahaha..."

I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win. I can't win.

Thud.

The strength deserted my legs, and my knees collapsed beneath me.

It had broken.

The realization struck me like a lead weight: I could never defeat this monster. He had been leagues above me from the very beginning, and to make matters worse, he had treated me like a training dummy to cultivate his own strength even further.

Thud. Thud.

Heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed across the void as the Demon King approached. He loomed over me, looking down at my trembling form. He had overwhelmed me through sheer, unadorned physical might—without weapons, without gear, without armor. If he had wielded the armaments he initially carried into this fight, I... I wouldn't have stood a ghost of a chance!

"St-stay away from me!!!"

Panic seized me. I scrambled to my feet and ran, sprinting blindly through the infinite dark subspace.

"Where do you think you are going?"

Grab!

His hand clamped down on me instantly.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

I flailed and struggled like a trapped animal. He let go with a chuckle, and I bolted again—only to be caught within seconds. Like an adult playing tag with a toddler, he toyed with me at his leisure.

"Ah... ah..."

Thud.

My strength completely spent, I collapsed to the ground once more. The will to run, the will to resist—all of it had drained out of me. Because I would only lose again. Because I would only be caught again.

"It seems you have finally accepted reality."

Wham!

"Gugh!"

A devastating blow struck my abdomen, and I barely swallowed back the surge of bile rising in my throat.

Step, step.

He strode closer.

"Heheh. Shall we bring this to an end?"

Is this... where I die...?

I screwed my eyes shut in anticipation of the killing blow, but instead, something cold snapped around my wrists and ankles.

Clank!

"?!"

Manacles?!

The Demon King gave a sharp snap of his fingers.

The abyssal space dissolved, returning me to the dimly lit cavern where we had taken shelter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the rain.

Lined up across the stone floor were the cavalrymen who had accompanied me, bound in thick ropes and forced onto their knees.

"Behold!" the Demon King bellowed to the captives. "Look upon the wretched state of the Hero you revere so dearly!"

"I did everything you told me to! Release Nina, damn you!"

Bound alongside his men, Lord Morrich shouted through tears of frantic fury.

From what he was saying... Nina must have been taken captive. He sold me out to save his own wife?

That fucking bastard!

"Silence," the Demon King commanded.

At his gesture, an attendant skeleton soldier struck Lord Morrich across the skull with the pommel of a bone sword.

"Order must be maintained. And now, the time has come to sever the Hero's head. Watch closely, all of you."

Skeletal hands seized my collar and forced my neck down onto a rough wooden execution block. After that grueling nightmare against the Demon King, my body was entirely drained ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of strength; I couldn't even summon the power to lift an arm!

"N-no... stop...!"

I writhed helplessly.

"Do not act so disgracefully, Hero. Depart this world with a shred of dignity."

Am I... am I really going to die like this...?!

"Ah, do not despair too deeply. Once your breath ceases, the necromancer over there will reanimate your corpse and put it to splendid use."

From beneath a tattered black robe, a sinister skull grinned down at me. It was Sandro, the Elder Lich—one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Surrounding him stood undead soldiers reanimated by his trademark corpse manipulation, their flesh crudely stitched together, their cloudy eyes as dead as rotted fish.

"Now then, such a historic execution must be immortalized for posterity," the necromancer hissed with a sickening chuckle, leveling a Video Recording Orb directly at my face.

"St-stop...!"

"Heheh. Rest easy. You shall not make the journey alone."

Several cavalrymen who had resisted most fiercely were dragged forward, forced to their knees, their necks laid across the log alongside mine.

"Behead them," came the order.

Another of the Four Heavenly Kings stepped forward: the Minotaur King. The hulking, ox-headed beast hefted a massive double-bitted battleaxe.

Moooorgh—!

Bellowing a guttural war cry, the beast swung. With terrifying ease, the heads of the soldiers beside me were sheared cleanly from their shoulders—like a fishmonger slicing heads off fish at a market.

Thud. Roll.

Severed heads bounced against the dirt, tumbling forward in a pooling tide of crimson gore right before my eyes.

"H-hyieeek...!"

Tremors violently seized my body. My limbs, my chest, every muscle shook uncontrollably.

"Worry not, Hero. Even in death, you shall serve us well as a reanimated puppet."

The icy steel of the axe grazed the nape of my neck, instantly shattering my sanity.

I want to live! I don't want to die like this!

"W-wait! Just wait a second!"

"What is it?" the Demon King drawled. "I suppose I can indulge your last words."

"I-if you kill me, another Hero will just be summoned in my place!"

"Hmm... that is true."

"Th-then that would be a pain in the ass for you, wouldn't it?!"

Two Heroes could not exist in one world simultaneously. That was the absolute rule laid down by that crazy bitch of a Goddess. Which meant... as long as I remained alive, no new Hero could ever be summoned!

I had to exploit this! If I pretended to surrender, become his subordinate, and wait for an opening to escape...!

"Not in the slightest."

"What?!"

"In fact, I would relish another Hero's arrival. I could simply absorb all of his techniques as well. Heheh."

"Y-you bastard...!"

His sheer, unchecked arrogance was suffocating.

"Or are you proposing to become my subordinate? How could I possibly control someone blessed with absolute immunity to every curse and brainwashing art? Would it not be vastly simpler to kill you and puppet your corpse?"

When I choked on my words, unable to answer, the Demon King jerked his chin toward the ox-headed beast.

No! I'm going to die!

"W-wait! I'll do whatever you say! Anything...!"

"Sever his head."

"NOOOOO!!!"

THUD!

The massive blade slammed into the wood, missing my flesh by a hair's breadth!

"Do you mean that?"

"Y-yes...!"

I trembled uncontrollably. Did I piss myself? God, I almost pissed myself!

The Demon King crouched before me, wearing a sinister leer. "I asked if you will truly do everything I command."

"Y-yes...!"

At that, his expression twisted into a truly fiendish sneer.

"Then become a female."

"What...?"

"I shall remodel that body of yours into an ultra-fertile female vessel, and you shall serve as my personal breeding womb."

His grin widened, sickening and triumphant.

"Can you do that?"

And to my everlasting shame... I nodded...