Ch.113Epilogue

The red moon disappeared, and in front of Khan stood the Host from ten years ago, waving his staff while looking at him.

“Well, participant Khan, or should I say Choi Sihyeon. I hope you’ve enjoyed these ten years! As someone who has killed all other participants and risen to the level of demigod, I’d like to present you with the winner’s trophy as promised! Now, after destroying the continent, devastating the ecosystem, and exterminating the human race to kill the other participants, what is it that you desire?!”

Khan,

No, Choi Sihyeon.

He recalled his ten years in this place.

When he first arrived here, he survived on monster meat and human flesh.

It was the worst possible beginning, but experiencing a mother’s love for the first time was truly wonderful.

There were countless times he nearly died at the hands of adventurers who came to capture his mother, but turning the tables and capturing them instead to earn his mother’s praise felt incredibly good.

After living with his mother for three years, he became independent and wandered aimlessly for two years.

He devoured humans who attacked him, ate Ogres who challenged him for territory, and when he encountered male Minotaurs, he beat them just enough to drive them away.

He met female Minotaurs too, but strangely felt no sexual desire, so he simply dealt with them briefly before sending them away.

After wandering for two years, his homing instinct led him back to the forest where his mother had lived, only to find she had departed.

So he decided to wait for her, occupying a cave near his mother’s territory. While living there, he fought against “participants” for the first time.

There was a water user who pretended to be strong, a Japanese sword wielder, and even a hypnotist.

Both were powerful, but he managed to defeat them, and afterward, he met Mary.

They traveled together for two years.

He guided Mary to Fairy Tail, visited Elvenheim, destroyed the Imperial Palace, explored the Forest of Demonic Beasts, and many other places.

Of course, that relationship also ended in tragedy because of his overconfidence.

The scene of Mary dying for him constantly haunted his mind, and during the years he was trapped in that black space, he suffered from hallucinations and auditory delusions.

And now, Khan, who had succeeded in avenging Mary and eliminating the human race from the Grancia continent—a species that always acted only for their own benefit—spoke the wish he had always desired while in that black space.

“You guys…? Uh…?”

“Aha! You must be surprised that you can suddenly speak human language! I helped you a little! Reading thoughts is a bit troublesome, you see!”

Realizing once again that this Host was indeed a god-like being, Khan opened his mouth again.

“If I were to say the extermination of you who host this game… would you grant that too?”

The wish fitting his championship cup was the extermination of the gods who hosted this game.

Those who held such games for their own amusement couldn’t possibly be normal gods, nor should they be gods at all.

When he spoke the conclusion he had reached after thinking deeply in the pitch-black darkness, the Host grinned.

He walked over, moved above Khan’s head, which was several times larger than himself, and stroked Khan’s cheek as he answered.

“Of course not. To us, beings like you, Khan… well, to put it simply, you’re no different from dolls. Just now, when you heard the voice of the Moon Goddess who easily subdued Uldur, the god of this world, you knelt and worshipped her, didn’t you? That’s what we are. Tell me your real wish, Khan. We’re busy and need to host the next game.”

Since Khan already knew they wouldn’t grant that wish, he nodded lightly and stated his real wish.

“I want… Mary to be resurrected. And… I want the land I destroyed to be restored.”

“Hmm… Mary is that fairy who traveled with you, right? Just that and restoring the devastated land to its original state… Is that all?”

“Yes.”

The Host realized Khan was sincere when he saw him nodding.

“What about returning to your previous world, becoming a god of this world, or indulging in carnal pleasures…? Don’t you want any of that? With that body, you could wreak havoc in your previous world.”

Perhaps because Khan’s wish was too modest, the Host informed him of what else he could do, but Khan simply shook his head.

“I… want to travel with Mary again. Not in the Grancia world I destroyed, but in a prosperous Grancia where humans who interfered with our journey are gone.”

“Hmm… I’ve hosted this game over 80 times now… but this winner, perhaps because he rose to the level of demigod, has such a peculiar wish… I can certainly grant that wish. Is there anything else?”

“Um… I want… the same lifespan as Mary. I don’t know how long Mary will live… but I want to die together with her.”

At that wish, the Host scratched his head, showing reluctance.

“Well… I don’t know if I should call you desireless or just peculiar. Alright! Then, let me grant your wish!”

Snap!

As the Host snapped his fingers, a screen appeared showing the process of Grancia’s restoration in vivid detail.

Everything except the abyss created by Khan’s lightning returned to its original state. The area that had been a mountain range before becoming a plain three years ago due to the collision between Khan, the Uldur cult, and Envy was restored to mountains with vegetation growing again with just one gesture from the Host.

On the screen displayed by the Host, the sea that had been turbulent from the movement of islands calmed down and returned to a peaceful state, and the coastal areas that had been hit by tsunamis were restored to their original condition.

The land where all living organisms had disappeared due to Khan’s lightning strike now sprouted new buds and became suitable for animals to live, and the island Khan had thrown was also restored.

While Khan was staring in amazement, not having thought such things possible with just a snap of fingers, the Host called him and instructed him to open his palm.

“Like this?”

“Yes! That’s right! Now then…!! Drum roll please—!”

Waving his staff like a magic wand, magical powder was sprinkled onto Khan’s palm.

The magical powder gathered and took on a clay-like form, gradually transforming into Mary’s appearance.

“Had a hard time, didn’t you? Finding a soul that died three years ago is a headache, but fortunately, the Moon Goddess is your fan! Thanks to her diverting the soul in advance, the resurrection was expedited!”

“Ah… Aah…!!”

The clay that had taken Mary’s form looked exactly as she did right before her death. Her tiny spatial backpack, her clothes, her hair, and even her distinctive butterfly wings with unique patterns!

The body, identical to her appearance just before death, began to move as a white orb left the Host’s hand and settled into it.

“Mmm…!!! Slept well—!”

“Mary——!!”

“Eek—!? Khan… you’ve really become a crybaby?”

Realizing that this was the real Mary, not a hallucination or auditory delusion, Khan treated her very preciously, bringing his head close to hers and shedding large tears from his big eyes.

“There, there, good boy— good boy—, you’ve been through a lot, Khan! If you resurrected me like this, it means you became the winner, right? You’ve worked hard!”

“Mary… I… I must apologize to you… I must apologize!”

As Khan shed tears and uttered words of repentance, Mary simply stroked his head with a benevolent smile.

“Oh my, it’s okay. I didn’t sacrifice my body for you; I threw myself to protect you. Khan did nothing wrong, and instead, you even resurrected me like this? That’s enough!”

At those words, Khan continued to shed tears while Mary watched him with a smile and stroked him.

“It’s touching… Well, now that everything has been restored, I’ll take my leave! Oh, right! As a service, I’ve completely removed all of Khan’s mental illnesses! So don’t worry about anything and enjoy your life in Grancia!”

With those words, the Host disappeared.

The two spent a long time crying and laughing on this mountain where vegetation had grown, with Khan talking and Mary responding as they continued their conversation.

As they talked, they moved to Fairy Tail to report to the Queen, and Khan was reunited with his mother.

When he told her about everything that had happened with Mary, his mother also embraced him tightly, telling him he had worked hard while stroking his horns.

“Well then, shall we go?”

“Moooo.”

Khan, who now only made crying sounds after the Host disappeared, agreed with Mary’s words and left Fairy Tail.

* * * * *

Khan and Mary traveled throughout Grancia for hundreds of years.

They went south to see the magic tower, and sometimes moved north to experience the bitter cold.

From the huge waterfall in the western part of the Grancia continent to the cave dug by giants in the east long ago.

They continued to travel, enjoying Grancia without human interference.

One day, ancient evil spirits awakened and attacked Khan and Mary, and another day, thanks to the “Friend’s Scent” trait, Mad Bulls, who were like Khan’s other half, gathered around and they enjoyed a party together.

Having depleted all his divinity in the previous battle and no longer receiving divine power, and with all his worshippers dead, Khan was no longer a demigod but became mortal and enjoyed a mortal life.

Sometimes hunting, sometimes just leisurely walking around and sightseeing.

After hundreds of years of traveling, the end came for Khan and Mary.

The reason was their lifespan.

Mary was a fairy who had lived quite long for her kind, and Khan was a being with the same lifespan as her.

When the moment came for Mary’s life to end, they instinctively sensed it and searched for a place to be buried.

The place they came to was the now-enormous Demon Forest.

Khan and Mary, who had instinctively returned to the place where Khan had once lived and where everything had begun when they met, moved to the cave where they had briefly lived together.

Despite hundreds of years having passed, the cave was still intact, exactly where Khan and Mary remembered it.

A huge black bear was living there, but upon seeing Khan, it ran away as fast as it could.

The two settled there, lay down, and quietly gazed at each other.

“Khan… was it fun?”

“Moooo… (Yes, and you, Mary?)”

“I had fun too.”

With those words, Mary’s body gradually turned to dust and scattered.

Even as her body was turning to dust, she placed her hand on Khan’s horn, and Khan accepted her hand.

Eventually, Mary completely turned to dust and disappeared… and in the cave, only Khan remained, his eyes closed, no longer moving.

And a red sphere that suddenly appeared swallowed two white spheres and disappeared somewhere.