The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits - Chapter 214



EP10. The Falling Twilight

I gritted my teeth. Just a moment ago, both Saint and Beatrice had clearly been defeated by the Demon King and died.

I couldn’t help but feel a sense of absurdity when I saw it. They were already much stronger than me, and it was hard to accept that they had been defeated without even being able to properly restrain the Demon King. But what’s the point of thinking about it that way?

In the end, Saint and Beatrice were beheaded by the Demon King in an instant. And in an instant, the balance was broken.

From noble mtl dot com

As I watched the soldiers being swept away by the Demon King in that moment of broken balance, I thought to myself… If I had known this would happen, I should have just let Saint and Beatrice fight the enemies without any filters and given up on trying to suppress the Demon King.

Since there was no restraint at all against the Demon King, in the end, only Saint and Beatrice were lost. This meant that not only power but also morale was being reduced in real time.

… After what they had suffered, regression was an inevitable choice. However, they had to find out as much as they could at least.

The remaining period of my return period is now about eleven months. Considering that I had wasted ninety-nine years trying to defeat the Demon King of Wrath, I could not waste even that short period of time.

What do I need to find out? Are there any weaknesses in the enemy? Or at least some way to stop the enemy…

At that moment, the Demon King’s black magic exploded across the battlefield.

Just from the aftermath, I had a premonition.

A premonition of death running down my spine.

An explosion occurs. And what follows the explosion is a gale. The harsh wind begins to peel my skin off.

Time slowed down. I felt my skin, my hide, my flesh, my bones being peeled away.

Before the pain could even reach the brain through the nerves, even the nerves that were supposed to do the job had disappeared. In an instant, I felt my body turn to ash without a trace.

My soul rose from the ashes, as if salvaging a sunken ship from the sea. Again into the light, again into the darkness, again into the chaos beyond. My soul went there, and again I was… back in the past.

It wasn’t that hard to figure out the timing. After all, it was the same scene I had seen right before I died, with battles taking place with shouts.

And it wasn’t that difficult to find the Demon King, Saint, and Beatrice still fighting.

In the center of the battle, they are the ones who are more noticeable than anyone else, and they are the ones who are fiercely attacking each other.

I looked at them. How on earth did they lose? I didn’t see it before I returned. I had to find out what had happened.

They continued to attack like that, but finally stopped when the Demon King’s black magic grew to a level that Beatrice could no longer control.

And then, the explosion that followed. Even though I had the self-defense ability, it wasn’t enough to completely block the explosion caused by that level of divine power and black magic.

Eventually, both Beatrice and Sein collapsed, and the Demon King indifferently approached them to kill them.

And then I shot an arrow at the Demon King.

I didn’t even think for a moment that I could defeat the Demon King with just that one shot. Rather, I just fired it in the hope that something would change.

And, as expected, the Demon King easily dodged my arrow. It didn’t matter anyway. It was just an arrow shot to buy time. The Demon King looked at the arrow for a moment, then burst into laughter. And then, he looked straight at me.

“Is that you?”

As soon as I heard that, I knew. My instincts were ringing an alarm. I was definitely going to die now.

The Demon King ran towards me in an instant, closing the distance between him and Saint and Beatrice as if he couldn’t even see them. I looked straight at the Demon King.

There was a deep smile on his lips. Just the fact that he had come near, just that alone gave me a sense of death. It felt as if every single cell had already accepted death. I gritted my teeth.

“I never understood how my power could be destroyed. So, I wondered. How, who, could dare to do such a thing? And now I know. You,”

The Demon King approached me with his eyes shining brightly. I unconsciously took a step back.

“You were the one who created it all.”

I looked straight at the Demon King. Even if I die, I don’t want to show myself in a mean manner. Even as I thought that, I couldn’t help but feel fearful inside.

The moment the Demon King reached out to me, an arrow flew.

The Demon King caught the arrow in an instant.

“Hmm, is this something we’ve already seen? If not you, then it seems no one else can escape the power. Isn’t that right?”

The Demon King realized that it was me who had already distorted his power. Then, he turned his head and said.

“Where… What are you doing, you four-year-old?”

Lena’s face lit up. She had clearly used up most of her energy, so she had tried to get her to leave the battlefield on purpose, but Moang didn’t listen. Ironically, the arrow she had shot just now was evidence that her magic power was almost gone. If she had been in good condition, she wouldn’t have used the arrow.

I looked at Lena and shouted.

“Go! Don’t push yourself too hard when you’ve used up all your magic power!”

Lena looked at me and said.

“No, I can’t. Someone has to stop him. So, no matter what, I have to… .”

The Demon King lightly blasted black magic at Lena as if he was not interested. I jumped in front of her and blocked it.

“…Go. Right now, no matter what you do, you can’t stop the Demon King. The Demon King seems to be interested in me, so there might be a way. So take care of Saint and Beatrice. As for the Demon King… I’ll stop him somehow.”

I looked at Lena. Thanks to Lena’s attention, I was able to live a little longer. However, even so, what could I do against the Demon King? I don’t have much time left.

But even so, even if I experience several deaths.

He held the holy sword. Upon seeing it, the Demon King opened his eyes wide and spoke.

“Hahaha… So, you were a warrior. Is that why you’ve been able to undermine my power up until now? You’ve become a part of the balance guardian… You’re a poor victim who was played by the Goddess of Light and the Goddess of Chaos, and you’ve taken up that sword again.”

I kept my mouth shut and said nothing. I was amazed at how every word he said could scratch my insides. After staring at him for a while, the Demon King smiled.

“Curiosity has been satisfied. Now, all that remains is revenge.”

“plural?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, you killed my most trusted subordinate. This is revenge for that.”

“The Demon King is more sensitive than I thought.”

“Well, maybe it’s because I haven’t lost anything since I gained this power, so the loss feels even greater. But what’s certain is that I’m looking forward to fighting you right now. The energy I feel from your body, and the arrows pointed at me, haven’t reached me for a long time… but it doesn’t matter.”

The Demon King looked at me and continued speaking.

“If you are too weak to do anything and die without even being able to hurt me, I can just laugh at your pitiful state and make fun of your disgrace. And if you can really perform a miracle… that alone would be fun.”

With those words, dark magic surged forward. I didn’t even have time to react. It pierced my neck.

“…You’re weaker than I thought.”

Just that kind of sentiment. I thought it was just a momentary entertainment, but in reality, it was worse than that, not even worthy of being entertainment… A disappointed expression.

I won’t ask why I’m disappointed in the winner’s theme. Because it’s meaningless. There’s no way to know, and I don’t want to know. I’m just… endlessly angry.

I felt my soul leaving my body. But unlike usual, I didn’t feel at peace.

And then, when I came to my senses again, the Demon King was before my eyes.

The Demon King once again cast black magic at me.

I dodged it, and the black magic narrowly missed me.

Then the Demon King looked at me and said.

“Huh, you clearly didn’t react, but you dodged. Your cells didn’t even know that I was attacking you, and yet your body dodged my attack. As if… you were reading my attack.”

“…”

The Demon King burst into laughter.

“Oh, by the way… Why are you fighting me one-on-one? I didn’t hear the reason.”

The demon king approached me.

“Do you think you can stop me on your own? Or are you trying to commit suicide? Tell me. What’s your reason?”

Naturally, it implies that it is not difficult for me to beat someone like myself. For some reason, I felt a little angry at that remark, which seemed so obvious.

“…Why are you asking the obvious?”

So, I opened my mouth.

“I am fighting to kill you.”