Chapter 13: A future shattered

“Aaaaaaaaargh—!!!”

With a desperate scream that he could hardly believe was his own, Logan broke free from the horrific vision of the future.

Clang—!

As if something had shattered, a sound echoed in his ears, and his vision blurred back to reality.

He gasped for breath, slumping against the wall.

Cold sweat poured down like rain, and his heart pounded uncontrollably, as if it would burst.

“Heok…! Heok…!”

The future images that had vividly unfolded before his eyes just moments ago.

Logan found it impossible to distinguish whether it was reality or illusion.

It wasn’t just visual information.

The overwhelming emotion of his wedding day, his unwavering affection for Irene.

And…

The heart-wrenching pain and despair when he saw the baby’s face.

All the sensations were too vivid.

But he desperately shook his head.

‘The… the Demon Lord’s… curse… Haha… Yes, this must be a curse the Demon Lord cast on me before he died…’

It had to be.

That Irene, the her he had loved and devoted his entire world to, couldn’t possibly do such a terrible thing.

‘I… I gave everything… I asked for nothing and only for you…’

No, that was a lie.

To be honest, deep down in his heart—

He had always longed for a happy future with her.

He had always wanted her love.

But not once had he voiced it or forced it upon her.

He had merely stayed by her side silently, hoping that someday she would recognize his true feelings.

Was that feeling such a grave mistake?

‘Was that… so wrong? Even if it was… no matter what… this is too much!’

Yes, this couldn’t be real.

It was too horrific, too cruel.

This had to be an illusion created by the Demon Lord, a nightmare, a curse.

Logan constantly brainwashed himself, desperately trying to hold onto the thread of his sanity.

When he finally managed to lift his head amidst the confusion, familiar figures came into his blurred vision.

“Sera…”

“Hero…”

Lian and Sera.

The two were looking at each other affectionately, about to kiss.

It was exactly the same scene he had just witnessed in the images in his head.

His heart felt like it was freezing solid.

If so, then Irene would next…

‘Ah… ah… please… it can’t be…’

Logan prayed desperately.

Lian and Sera had always had feelings for each other, so this was plausible.

But Irene…

Please, let her, at least, be different from the image in the vision.

But Logan’s desperate wish was mercilessly shattered.

“Logan……”

Irene was approaching him with a pitiful expression, a frail figure wounded by a broken heart.

That look in her eyes, begging for comfort, that expression, even her gait.

It was chillingly identical to the future image that had played in his mind.

‘Ah.’

Logan realized everything.

It was neither a curse nor an illusion.

What he had witnessed, as much as he wanted to deny it, was the all-too-clear image of the impending future.

Therefore.

The hand she extended.

The hand his past self would have gladly, no, ecstatically, grasped.

Logan, without knowing it, reflexively—

Slap!

He roughly slapped it away.

---

“Lo-Logan…?”

Irene’s dark eyes wavered greatly with surprise and bewilderment.

In all her memory, Logan had never once pushed her hand away.

Completely unprepared for his action, Irene froze on the spot, unsure what to say.

Only after seeing her face did Logan realize what he had done.

But the water was already spilled.

“Ah, sorry. I did it habitually without thinking…”

He hastily made an excuse.

The Demon Lord was defeated, but the excuse that remnants might still be hiding would sound plausible.

It was true that he had always been in charge of the Hero party’s vigilance.

“Ugh, yes… It’s okay…”

Irene tried to answer in a trembling voice, but she couldn’t finish her sentence.

Logan’s voice might have been as gentle as usual, but his eyes were anything but.

Logan, too, belatedly realized his own expression.

“Ah, damn it…”

He didn’t need a mirror to know.

His face right now would not have a trace of its usual gentleness.

How much effort had he put into always showing her only a kind and warm side?

He desperately tried to compose his emotions.

There was no need to treat her coldly because of a future that hadn’t even happened yet.

Therefore, Logan forced the corners of his mouth up to create his usual smile.

And in the softest voice possible, he spoke as if nothing was wrong.

“You worked hard, Irene… It’s finally all over…”

“Uh, uh…”

Irene tilted her head for a moment at the subtle sense of incongruity she felt from Logan, but she didn’t think deeply about it.

Her long-held belief that Logan would never reject or avoid her forcibly suppressed the unfamiliarity before her eyes.

She convinced herself that his rejection just now must have been a simple mistake and approached Logan again.

“Lo… Logan… I…”

She once again reached out her hand to Logan, seeking comfort for her heartbreak.

She wanted to be held in his warm embrace and find solace.

But at that sight, Logan was once again convinced.

‘Ah…’

The future he saw was not an illusion.

Otherwise, how could Irene so naturally seek comfort and help from him, while still holding Lian in the corner of her gaze?

For the first time, Logan felt a clear sense of betrayal from Irene.

Therefore, Logan turned away from her hand again this time.

No, he pretended not to see it.

He completely turned his body away from Irene and deliberately shouted loudly towards Lian and Sera, who had not yet escaped their sweet atmosphere.

“Lian! Sera! What are you doing here! Let’s get out of here quickly! We don’t know when the Demon Lord’s castle might collapse!”

“R-right! Logan’s right! We need to escape quickly!”

“Th-that’s right! The battle was too intense, the castle could collapse at any moment!”

At Logan’s shout, Lian and Sera, belatedly coming to their senses, agreed with him and hurriedly made their way towards the exit of the Demon Lord’s castle.

“……Logan?”

Irene, frozen on the spot, could only stare blankly at Logan’s retreating back as he walked away without hesitation, turning his back on her.

Why?

Why was Logan acting like this?

She couldn’t understand it at all.

Creeaak—!

Just then, a part of the Demon Lord’s castle ceiling collapsed with a loud noise, and huge cracks began to appear on the walls.

Startled by the sound, Irene quickly followed Logan and the others to escape the danger.

The cracks in the wall were deepening, much like the rift that was beginning to form between Logan and Irene.

But even at this point—

Irene was still convinced.

Logan would never abandon her.

No matter what happened, he had always looked only at her, had always been on her side—

It was Logan, after all, no one else.

---

Rumble—!

The massive fortress that had been Demon Lord Belzegor’s seat of power finally collapsed helplessly.

With that deafening roar, the will to resist of the remaining Demon Lord’s forces, who had been fighting their last stand against the subjugation army on the outskirts of the castle, was completely broken.

Some tried to flee in panic, while others threw down their weapons and sat down on the spot, indicating their surrender.

“Ah… Ah… The Demon Lord…! We have to escape! Spare me!”

“Why… why are we… Keoheok!”

But their fate was sealed.

The priests of the Church, part of the subjugation army, showed no mercy to the demons, refusing even their surrender, and unleashed a merciless purifying flame.

The fleeing demons fell to the blades of the subjugation army, and those who tried to surrender were turned to ash by holy magic.

Anastasia’s face hardened as she watched the gruesome scene.

Baldur and Elara, who were beside her, also couldn’t hide their troubled expressions.

“Ahem… I seriously doubt if those are truly the ones who uphold the will of the merciful Goddess. To be so cruel…”

Baldur said, clicking his tongue.

“Tch. I agree. To mercilessly slaughter even those who try to surrender. Isn’t this why the demons resist to the very end?”

Elara also agreed.

At this rate, it was difficult to distinguish who the real evil was.

Anastasia sympathized with the words of the two, but now was not the time to cause internal division.

She raised her hand to stop them.

“I also agree with your opinions… but I don’t think now is the time to raise our voices. First… it would be best to wait for the Hero party to return safely.”

“Hmm… Her Highness the Crown Princess is right. There’s no need to stir up trouble by talking out of turn. Especially you, pointy-ear.”

“What? You blockheaded dwarf! You started it!”

Putting aside the two who started bickering as usual even in this situation, Anastasia looked at the collapsing Demon Lord’s castle with anxious eyes.

‘Logan…’

He had to be safe.

Please, let it not be some terrible outcome where he sacrificed himself to defeat the Demon Lord.

If anything happened to him…

She couldn’t guarantee what she might do.

Just as Anastasia and many others were earnestly praying for the Hero party’s safe return.

“Ooooh!! It’s the Hero!”

“Saintess! You’re safe!”

“Lady Irene too! Thank goodness!”

As the figures of the Hero party finally emerged from the thick cloud of dust, cheers erupted from here and there.

Soldiers and commanders rushed forward to congratulate the heroes on their return.

The names of Lian, Sera, and Irene were constantly called out and praised.

However, hardly anyone called Logan’s name or approached him.

At least Baldur and Elara came over and patted his shoulder in encouragement.

“Hahaha! As expected of you, Logan! I knew you could do it!”

“Tsk… The short-lived ones don’t even know who truly deserves credit. Why don’t you come to our Elven forest? A skilled person like you, even if human, would be warmly welcomed.”

“No, this pointy-ear again! Are you hitting on a young boy hundreds of years younger than you!?”

“Wh-what! What nonsense is this rude dwarf spouting!”

At the sight of Baldur and Elara bickering as usual, Logan managed a faint smile.

Thanks to their kindness, his frozen heart seemed to thaw just a little, but a corner of his chest still felt empty and heavy.

It was then.

“Logan…!”

With an anxious voice, Anastasia was rushing towards him through the crowd.

Logan, seeing her approach him unreservedly despite his disheveled state, unknowingly flinched.

“Ah…”

Why was it?

Seeing her, the suppressed emotions seemed to surge up again.

His chest ached with a sharp pain.

Was that why?

Logan didn’t avoid Anastasia as she, with an expression mixed with worry and relief, threw herself into his arms.

No, rather, he slightly raised his arms as if to receive her embrace.

Whoosh!

“Huh…?”

Anastasia, realizing she was in Logan’s arms, momentarily held her breath in surprise.

She had never expected him to accept her embrace.

Her heart began to pound fiercely.

And what surprised her even more was his soft voice in her ear.

“…Your Highness… No, Anya…”

“!!!”

Anya.

The nickname she had longed to hear so much.

The name he had called her during that short time five years ago.

Anastasia doubted her ears.

“I’m sorry… but just for a moment… may I lean on you like this?”

Logan’s voice was tired, and it trembled precariously.

In that moment, Anastasia understood everything.

How hard a time he had been through, and how much he needed comfort right now.

“Yes…? Ah, yes! Of course! As much as you like!”

Anastasia carefully but firmly embraced Logan’s back as he leaned on her.

His tired body was trembling faintly.

“As much as you want… lean on me, Logan… I… will always be by your side…”

“……”

Perhaps truly exhausted and weary, Logan quietly closed his eyes, leaning into her warm embrace.

Like someone who had found a sanctuary after a long period of wandering.

Meanwhile, Irene, who was sharing the joy of victory with Lian and Sera a short distance away.

Upon discovering Logan and Anastasia embracing, she froze on the spot.

‘……How dare she.’

It was an unbelievable sight.

The color instantly drained from her face, and her eyes glinted with cold anger and jealousy.

‘My Logan……! How dare that woman!’

Irene glared at Anastasia with hateful eyes.

To think she would try to bewitch and snatch him away like a fox, taking advantage of Logan’s momentary weakness!

Irene wanted to rush over immediately and separate the two, but then.

“Irene! Come over here! We all need to raise a toast to victory!”

“Huh?… Ugh, yes! Alright, Lian!”

Lian called her, smiling brightly.

Irene, struggling to suppress her anger towards Anastasia, rushed to Lian.

Right now, pleasing Lian was more important.

Logan would surely prioritize her over a woman like that anyway.

Irene still hadn’t realized.

That something was very, very wrong.

If only she had tried to understand Logan’s feelings, even a little.

If only she had approached him now, late as it was, to sincerely apologize and comfort him.

Perhaps… everything could have been undone.

But such hypotheticals were now meaningless.

Because his long, selfless devotion was slowly coming to an end.