episode_0002

I was chosen as a hero.

The life of someone chosen as a hero was filled with bright light.

Commoners were treated like minor nobles, and if you were already a noble, the possibility of rising to a higher rank as a grand noble opened up.

That was the value of being called a hero in this world.

It was a level where you could say your life had changed.

But I couldn’t be happy about it.

“Damn, I’m the hero of destruction, the one who will bring ruin to this world.”

I had become a monster who had to bring about destruction.

“Hmm, nice to meet you. I am Bishop Romulus.”

A middle-aged man dressed in priestly robes approached.

A red cape hung from his shoulders.

Hanson had informed the Papal Office that a hero had appeared.

A week after the report.

The bishop had come from afar to fetch me.

“Nice to meet you. I am Emil Brown!”

I listened to the bishop’s words with military discipline.

“You will be entering the Hero Academy from now on. There, you will receive the teachings of a hero, do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.”

I quickly nodded my head.

The opportunity for social advancement had come to me.

Although I had been chosen as the hero of destruction, I had no intention of missing out on the opportunity that had come my way.

“Damn, since the world is going to hell anyway, might as well enjoy it.”

I decided to enjoy this moment.

I would indulge in all pleasures until the destruction came and then die.

After all, the devil would take care of the destruction.

“Haha, you seem spirited. Now, the decree from the Pope. The subject Emil Brown, kneel.”

The bishop unfolded the decree.

I knelt down quickly.

“The merciful Goddess has bestowed her power upon you, so use the power granted by the Goddess to dispel the darkness that looms over this world.”

The sword tapped my shoulders.

Even the act of tapping the sword had meaning.

The holy sword directly bestowed by the Goddess long ago.

The legend of the hero who pulled out the holy sword and killed the demon spread throughout the continent.

The act of tapping the sword on your body meant that you were recognized as a hero.

“It is done. Now, rise.”

I quickly got up at the bishop’s words.

“Hurry and move. You might be late for the entrance ceremony if you make a mistake.”

The place where the territory and the Hero Academy were located was quite far.

I had to move quickly from now on to arrive on time.

If I didn’t want to kneel for a year, I had to hurry.

“Bishop, aren’t you coming with me?”

“Sorry, I have to go to a nearby territory to inform the hero.”

The bishop was also busy.

The carriage he boarded quickly moved away.

“Let’s go. The road is long.”

The knight who was in charge of my escort urged me.

He was the captain of the escort.

Without a chance to say goodbye to my family, I got on the carriage.

“Be careful!”

“Don’t forget to write letters!”

“Mother, father, I will definitely succeed and come back.”

My parents waved goodbye as I left.

Before returning, my parents had left because they had no money.

They couldn’t properly maintain the carriage because they didn’t have money.

While climbing the steep road, the wheel came off.

The carriage rolled down the cliff.

I barely managed to recover the bodies that had become mangled.

If they had money, my parents wouldn’t have left so desolately.

“Money, money, money was always a problem. Let’s make sure to take care of our parents before causing destruction.”

Thinking like that helped calm my mind.

Clatter, clatter.

The carriage continued on the road that couldn’t be repaired.

It was a good carriage. I could hardly feel the shaking.

“Huh? This isn’t the way to the academy, is it?”

The carriage, which had been moving smoothly, suddenly changed course.

It veered off onto a side road and traveled for a while.

Then, it suddenly stopped.

The door opened. A woman in a pure white dress stood in front of the door, wearing a sheepskin coat.

“Nice to meet you. I am Freya Whitelion.”

She greeted me elegantly.

‘A giant has arrived.’

In the empire, there were three major noble families.

The families established by the comrades who stood by the first hero when he killed the demon lord long ago.

They were also the families that possessed the most powerful gifts in the world.

‘There was a villa operated by the Whitelion family here. Did she come out to play and awaken as a hero?’

The headquarters of the Whitelion family was far away from here.

It seemed like she had come to the villa for leisure and was appointed as a hero.

“Nice to meet you. I am Emil Brown.”

I quickly reached out my hand to her.

There were many benefits to becoming close with her.

“What a pretentious laugh. I’ve never heard of your family. You’re just a nobody.”

Freya covered her face with a fan.

Veins popped on her forehead.

I was angry at her rude attitude, but I held it in.

She was a noble and I was a commoner.

‘If it were after the apocalypse, I would have beaten her.’

When the apocalypse happened, social status disappeared.

It was a world ruled by barbarism and power.

After the apocalypse, one could easily kill someone who was as annoying as a half-dead human, as long as they believed in the noble families.

But now, the apocalypse had not happened.

I calmed my anger and recalled information about Freya.

A direct descendant of a major noble family had entered the academy.

The gifts passed down in the major noble families were special and powerful.

If one entered the Hero Academy, they would become a remarkable figure who would leave their name in history.

But I had no information about her activities in my memory.

‘Is she dead?’

I soon found out the reason.

She did not enter the academy.

She died at a young age on the streets.

The incident near the estate was vividly remembered.

‘Why?’

I racked my brain to remember why she died.

“It’s over.”

The reason came to mind.

The reason she died.

She was attacked by villains on her way to the academy and died.

The guards from her family and the knights from the papal office who were escorting her also died.

The culprit who caused the incident escaped smoothly.

The real criminal was never caught.

The number and strength of the villains were not accurately determined.

‘Do I need to run?’

If I wanted to save my life, I had to run now.

I clenched my head in conflict.

“Stop right there! Don’t come any closer! What’s your business here?”

It was already too late.

I fell into despair.

It seemed like my hard-earned second chance at life was about to end in less than two months.

“What’s going on?”

Freya opened the carriage door and got out.

“Two villains are blocking the road. They won’t budge even if I threaten them.”

“Is that so? Let me go and ask them.”

Freya’s voice faded away.

Unaware that they were messengers of death coming to kill her, she approached them.

“Oh god, please help me. Please give me strength.”

I immediately prayed to the god.

To overcome the current situation, I needed strength, lots of it.

‘You have given me enough strength.’

The god immediately responded.

The strength I could withstand even after being struck by lightning was the power granted by the god.

“Other people are often given relics or special powers. Why don’t you give me anything?”

I was not satisfied with that level of power.

To flee from death looming in front of me, I needed even stronger power.

If I could at least obtain a relic, I might be able to escape from the assassins.

To the shield-bearing hero, a shield was granted.

To the spear-wielding hero, a spear was bestowed.

The hero wielding the relic unleashed true power.

‘I have never granted such things.’

He was speaking the exact opposite of societal norms.

I began to doubt whether the god I was conversing with was the one people worshiped.

“Can you at least give me one weapon? How am I supposed to bring about destruction with my bare hands? I’ll die before causing any destruction!”

I insisted. Obtaining a relic would increase my chances of survival.

My actions were justified. Refusing to follow the orders of a superior who didn’t even provide a weapon and asked me to follow the devil’s will was only natural.

In a typical situation, a rebellion would occur.

*Sigh…*

I sighed.

As soon as the god sighed, a divine punishment descended from the sky.

I glanced subtly towards the sky.

*Sigh… I guess there’s no other choice.*

“I have already bestowed power upon you. You just haven’t realized it yet.”

“For the sake of your ignorance, I will directly awaken your power.”

Light descended from the sky.

The intense light shattered the roof of the carriage and illuminated me.

“Wow… It’s too bright, isn’t it?”

The light was so intense that it blinded me.

The noises that were faintly heard from outside disappeared.

“Have you succeeded? I am tired, so I will go rest.”

The god disappeared.

I checked the ability that the god had given me.

“Harbinger of Death.”

“All beings touched by you will die.”

I read the foreign information in my head.

The power given to me by the god.

“Huh?”

Perplexed, I blinked my eyes.

Harbinger of Death. The god had given me a kind of instant death skill.

“What just happened?”

“What is that light?”

A voice was heard from outside.

Footsteps approached.

The carriage door creaked open.

“Hello?”

I greeted the person.

He looked as if he had just taken a refreshing shower.

He had come after causing a massacre.

There was no need to ask about the fate of the guards outside.

“Who are you? I haven’t heard anything about you.”

He pointed his sword at me.

A blade emerged from the tip of the sword.

“This guy is crazy.”

I looked at the face hidden under the hood.

It was a familiar face. A famous hero from the Empire who was renowned in the southern region.

He had changed his weapon to avoid revealing his identity and launched an attack.

It was understandable that the identity of the attacker had not been revealed until the end.

It would be difficult to accuse the hero of being the culprit considering his image.

“If you don’t answer, I will bring you the most excruciating pain.”

He threatened me menacingly.

The sharp blade seemed like it would pierce my throat at any moment.

“Ask the god yourself.”

I did as he wished.

I placed my hand on his shoulder and activated the Harbinger of Death.

Thud.

He fell backward.

“Oh god, are you satisfied?”

The hero had played a significant role in the impending destruction.

I didn’t know why he had tried to kill Freya, but there must have been a reason.

With the leader who had been holding back the demons now dead, the impending destruction was surely hastened.

“Well done. Keep it up.”

I smiled satisfactorily at the god’s response.

There would be no lightning strikes from the sky for a while.